Study: Global Life Expectancy Has Returned to Pre-Pandemic Levels

According to a new large-scale study, global life expectancy has returned to pre-pandemic levels, though significant regional disparities remain.

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly became the leading cause of death worldwide when it swept across the globe in 2020, causing life expectancy to drop. People born in 2021 could expect to live, on average, to the age of 71.7.

By 2023, however, COVID-19 had fallen to 20th place among the leading causes of death, surpassed only by several chronic diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, and neonatal disorders. Global life expectancy rose to 73.8 years.

According to the study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, chronic diseases now account for nearly two-thirds of deaths and illnesses worldwide, with cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes leading the list.

Risk factors such as obesity, smoking, and air pollution play a major role in the development of chronic diseases — and if they were eliminated, almost half of all deaths and disabilities globally could be prevented, researchers calculated, as reported by Euronews.

“The rapid growth of the planet’s aging population and the evolving risk factors have ushered in a new era of global health challenges,” said Professor Christopher Murray, director of the U.S.-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), who led the study.

Working with colleagues around the world, Murray’s team analyzed data on 375 diseases and injuries and 88 risk factors across 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2023.

They also broke down data for five major European countries — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The leading cause of death in each of these countries in 2023 was heart disease — except in France, where lung cancer topped the list.