Photo by Loume Visser on Unsplash
Longer lives
Life expectancy at birth in Gapminder's four world regions, 1950 to 2019.
Every region gained at least 14 years
The years a newborn could expect to live, by world region
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Source: Based on free material from Gapminder, life expectancy at birth v15 (5 April 2026), regional averages weighted by population; CC BY 4.0.
A newborn in Asia could expect to live 46 years in 1950 and 75 years in 2019: a gain of 29 years, the most of any region. Africa gained 22 years, the Americas 17 and Europe, which started highest, 14. The world as a whole went from 52 to 74 years. The sharp dip in Asia around 1960 is the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–61.
Gapminder’s regions are wide: its Asia includes Australia and the Pacific Islands, and its Europe all of Russia and Central Asia.
| Region | 1950 | 2019 | Years gained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia | 45.6 | 74.9 | 29.3 |
| Africa | 42.8 | 65.2 | 22.4 |
| Americas | 60.8 | 77.5 | 16.7 |
| Europe | 64.6 | 78.8 | 14.2 |
Source: the chart’s Gapminder data, at one decimal.