Which has higher life expectancy, Laos or Palau?

Palau, at 69.27 years against 68.96 years in Laos as of 2023.

How many years of comparable data are there for Laos and Palau?

74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Life expectancy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Laos vs Palau: Life expectancy

Laos

68.96 years

in 2023

Palau

69.27 years

in 2023

Laos rank

178th

Palau rank

176th

Life expectancy over time

Laos
Palau

How they compare

Palau currently reports 69.27 years against 68.96 years in Laos, a difference of 0.31 years.

Across all 74 years both countries report, Palau has been ahead every year.

Laos ranks 178th and Palau ranks 176th of 236 countries.

Palau has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Laos	Palau	Difference	Ahead
1950s	40.09 years	53.61 years	13.51 years	Palau
1960s	42.21 years	55.95 years	13.74 years	Palau
1970s	45.58 years	59.71 years	14.13 years	Palau
1980s	51.22 years	62.53 years	11.31 years	Palau
1990s	56.11 years	63.32 years	7.21 years	Palau
2000s	60.5 years	66.12 years	5.62 years	Palau
2010s	66.19 years	68.9 years	2.71 years	Palau
2020s	68.46 years	68.86 years	0.4045 years	Palau

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher life expectancy, Laos or Palau?: Palau, at 69.27 years against 68.96 years in Laos as of 2023.
What is the difference in life expectancy between Laos and Palau?: 0.31 years, with Palau ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Laos and Palau?: 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
How do Laos and Palau rank globally for life expectancy?: Laos ranks 178th and Palau ranks 176th of 236 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Life expectancy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Life expectancy
Unit: years
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 236 places, 19,452 data points, 1543–2023
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.