NEW DELHI: Indians can expect to live longer than their counterparts in Pakistan, but have shorter lives than people in Bangladesh, the US and Canada, according to the latest World Health Organization estimates.India’s life expectancy at birth was 71 years in 2023, compared with 68.2 years in Pakistan, 72.7 years in Bangladesh, 78.5 years in the US and 81.4 years in Canada. But living longer does not necessarily mean living more years in good health. India’s healthy life expectancy was 60.6 years in 2023, compared with 60.5 in 2019. It had fallen to 58.4 years in 2021 before recovering to 60.2 years in 2022. The figures are part of WHO’s Global Health Estimates, released Friday, covering life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, causes of death and disease burden from 2000 to 2023. WHO said global life expectancy recovered close to pre-pandemic levels, while healthy life expectancy has recovered more slowly.
In 2 years from 2021, India regained 2.9 years of expected lifespan: WHO
For India, the difference is particularly visible over the pandemic years. Life expectancy fell from 70.5 years in 2019 to 68.1 years in 2021 before rising to 70.5 years in 2022 and 71 years in 2023. In just two years, India regained 2.9 years of expected lifespan.Healthy life expectancy, however, recovered by only 2.2 years, from 58.4 years in 2021 to 60.6 years in 2023, leaving it just 0.1 year above the 2019 level.The gap is also visible among older Indians. At age 60, a person could expect another 18.8 years of life in 2023, compared with 18.4 years in 2019. But 13.7 of those years were expected to be lived in full health, up from 13.4 years in 2019.India’s disease profile has changed sharply. Communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and diarrhoeal infections, can spread from person to person, while non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes, are generally long-term conditions.In 2000, communicable diseases accounted for nearly 62% of the combined death rate from the country’s 10 leading causes, while NCDs accounted for 34%. By 2023, the pattern had reversed, with NCDs accounting for nearly 75% and communicable diseases 16% of the combined death rate from the top 10 causes. The rest was from injuries.
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
The shift is evident in the leading causes. In 2000, tuberculosis and diarrhoeal diseases topped the list, with 92.4 and 87.8 deaths per 100,000 population. By 2023, ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke and diabetes were among the leading causes, with rates of 138.5, 83.19, 74.8 and 49.01, respectively. Yet infectious diseases remain a significant burden, with diarrhoeal diseases, tuberculosis and lower respiratory infections still among India’s top 10 causes of death in 2023.Globally, the shift towards chronic diseases is also pronounced. NCDs accounted for 74% of deaths in 2023, up from 58% in 2000, while eight of the world’s 10 leading causes of death were NCDs. Global life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, almost back to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019, while healthy life expectancy stood at 62.8 years, still 0.4 years below its 2019 level.
