Sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia

Somalia: Sex gap in life expectancy was 5.04 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
5.04 years
Change on year
up 15.3%
World rank
115th
of 236 countries
All-time high
8.91 years
in 1988
All-time low
2.36 years
in 2011
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia, 1950–2023

2468195019862023

Source: Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

In 2023, sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia stood at 5.04 years.

The figure is up 15.3% on the previous year and up 31.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia peaked at 8.91 years in 1988 and was at its lowest, 2.36 years, in 2011.

That places Somalia 115th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia, year by year

Annual values for Sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia, 1950 to 2023.
Year years Change
1950 2.94 years
1951 2.94 years -0.1%
1952 2.94 years -0.1%
1953 2.93 years -0.1%
1954 2.93 years -0.1%
1955 2.93 years -0.1%
1956 2.92 years -0.1%
1957 2.92 years -0.1%
1958 2.92 years -0.1%
1959 2.91 years -0.1%
1960 2.91 years +0.0%
1961 2.94 years +0.8%
1962 2.95 years +0.4%
1963 2.95 years -0.0%
1964 2.95 years -0.0%
1965 2.95 years +0.0%
1966 2.95 years -0.0%
1967 2.95 years -0.0%
1968 2.95 years -0.0%
1969 2.95 years -0.0%
1970 2.95 years -0.0%
1971 2.94 years -0.0%
1972 2.94 years -0.0%
1973 2.94 years -0.0%
1974 2.86 years -2.9%
1975 2.86 years -0.0%
1976 2.86 years -0.1%
1977 2.93 years +2.6%
1978 3.25 years +11.0%
1979 2.92 years -10.2%
1980 2.92 years -0.2%
1981 2.91 years -0.4%
1982 2.91 years +0.1%
1983 2.9 years -0.3%
1984 2.89 years -0.3%
1985 2.84 years -1.7%
1986 2.87 years +1.0%
1987 2.93 years +2.0%
1988 8.91 years +204.6%
1989 7.94 years -10.9%
1990 8.06 years +1.5%
1991 3.62 years -55.1%
1992 2.38 years -34.3%
1993 3.01 years +26.5%
1994 2.99 years -0.5%
1995 3.14 years +4.9%
1996 3.13 years -0.5%
1997 2.96 years -5.2%
1998 2.92 years -1.6%
1999 2.94 years +1.0%
2000 2.85 years -3.2%
2001 2.86 years +0.4%
2002 2.85 years -0.2%
2003 3 years +5.1%
2004 3.07 years +2.3%
2005 3.03 years -1.4%
2006 3.24 years +7.1%
2007 3.39 years +4.4%
2008 3.43 years +1.2%
2009 3.23 years -5.7%
2010 3.73 years +15.3%
2011 2.36 years -36.8%
2012 3.7 years +57.0%
2013 3.85 years +4.0%
2014 4.16 years +8.2%
2015 4.1 years -1.6%
2016 4.46 years +8.8%
2017 4.09 years -8.2%
2018 4.22 years +3.0%
2019 4.07 years -3.5%
2020 4.1 years +0.8%
2021 4.03 years -1.8%
2022 4.37 years +8.4%
2023 5.04 years +15.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 2.93 years 2.91 years 2.94 years 10
1960s 2.94 years 2.91 years 2.95 years 10
1970s 2.95 years 2.86 years 3.25 years 10
1980s 4 years 2.84 years 8.91 years 10
1990s 3.52 years 2.38 years 8.06 years 10
2000s 3.09 years 2.85 years 3.43 years 10
2010s 3.87 years 2.36 years 4.46 years 10
2020s 4.38 years 4.03 years 5.04 years 4

Countries ranked near Somalia

  1. 112 Argentina 5.07 years compare
  2. 113 Angola 5.05 years compare
  3. 114 Greece 5.04 years compare
  4. 116 Botswana 5.02 years compare
  5. 117 Jamaica 5.02 years compare
  6. 118 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 5.02 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Somalia

All data for Somalia →

Frequently asked questions

What is sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia?
Sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia was 5.04 years in 2023, according to Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest sex gap in life expectancy recorded in Somalia?
The highest recorded value was 8.91 years in 1988.
What is the lowest sex gap in life expectancy recorded in Somalia?
The lowest recorded value was 2.36 years in 2011.
How does Somalia rank for sex gap in life expectancy?
Somalia ranks 115th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is sex gap in life expectancy rising or falling in Somalia?
Over the last ten years it is up 31.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Somalia data come from?
The figures come from Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Sex gap in life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Sex gap in life expectancy in Somalia. Statizoid, drawing on Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 03 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/difference-in-female-and-male-life-expectancy-at-birth/somalia-fed-rep/

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About this data

Indicator
Sex gap in life expectancy
Unit
years
Source
Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 18,722 data points, 1751–2023
Last refreshed

Difference in period life expectancy (females - males) at a given age.