Which has higher life expectancy, Mali or Somalia?

Mali, at 60.44 years against 58.82 years in Somalia as of 2023.

How many years of comparable data are there for Mali and Somalia?

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.

Mali vs Somalia: Life expectancy

Mali

60.44 years

in 2023

Somalia

58.82 years

in 2023

Mali rank

230th

Somalia rank

231st

Life expectancy over time

Mali
Somalia

How they compare

Mali currently reports 60.44 years against 58.82 years in Somalia, a difference of 1.62 years.

The two have swapped places 5 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Somalia ahead.

Mali ranks 230th and Somalia ranks 231st of 236 countries.

Across the 8 decades both report, Mali averaged higher in 4 and Somalia in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Mali	Somalia	Difference	Ahead
1950s	29.58 years	42.4 years	12.82 years	Somalia
1960s	31.51 years	44.5 years	12.99 years	Somalia
1970s	36.25 years	45.86 years	9.62 years	Somalia
1980s	43.49 years	47.64 years	4.15 years	Somalia
1990s	48.17 years	45.1 years	3.07 years	Mali
2000s	53.34 years	51.01 years	2.34 years	Mali
2010s	57.64 years	51.35 years	6.29 years	Mali
2020s	59.61 years	56.39 years	3.23 years	Mali

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher life expectancy, Mali or Somalia?: Mali, at 60.44 years against 58.82 years in Somalia as of 2023.
What is the difference in life expectancy between Mali and Somalia?: 1.62 years, with Mali ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Mali and Somalia?: 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
How do Mali and Somalia rank globally for life expectancy?: Mali ranks 230th and Somalia ranks 231st 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.