Life expectancy at birth, by sex in Denmark

Denmark: Life expectancy at birth, by sex was 80.02 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
80.02 years
Change on year
up 0.7%
World rank
34th
of 236 countries
All-time high
80.02 years
in 2023
All-time low
69.11 years
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Life expectancy at birth, by sex in Denmark, 1950–2023

020406080195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

Denmark recorded 80.02 years for life expectancy at birth, by sex in 2023. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.7% on the previous year and up 2.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy at birth, by sex in Denmark peaked at 80.02 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 69.11 years, in 1950.

That places Denmark 34th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

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

Life expectancy at birth, by sex in Denmark, year by year

Annual values for Life expectancy at birth, by sex in Denmark, 1950 to 2023.
Year years Change
1950 69.11 years
1951 69.71 years +0.9%
1952 69.39 years -0.5%
1953 69.88 years +0.7%
1954 69.89 years +0.0%
1955 70.39 years +0.7%
1956 70.4 years +0.0%
1957 70.16 years -0.4%
1958 70.48 years +0.5%
1959 70.59 years +0.2%
1960 70.43 years -0.2%
1961 70.56 years +0.2%
1962 70.32 years -0.3%
1963 70.41 years +0.1%
1964 70.29 years -0.2%
1965 70.19 years -0.1%
1966 70.21 years +0.0%
1967 70.62 years +0.6%
1968 70.78 years +0.2%
1969 70.86 years +0.1%
1970 70.87 years +0.0%
1971 70.8 years -0.1%
1972 70.81 years +0.0%
1973 70.97 years +0.2%
1974 70.94 years -0.0%
1975 71.28 years +0.5%
1976 70.94 years -0.5%
1977 71.73 years +1.1%
1978 71.52 years -0.3%
1979 71.19 years -0.4%
1980 71.17 years -0.0%
1981 71.24 years +0.1%
1982 71.6 years +0.5%
1983 71.44 years -0.2%
1984 71.66 years +0.3%
1985 71.53 years -0.2%
1986 71.77 years +0.3%
1987 71.75 years -0.0%
1988 72.05 years +0.4%
1989 71.99 years -0.1%
1990 72.03 years +0.1%
1991 72.47 years +0.6%
1992 72.56 years +0.1%
1993 72.6 years +0.0%
1994 72.78 years +0.2%
1995 72.73 years -0.1%
1996 73.05 years +0.4%
1997 73.56 years +0.7%
1998 73.94 years +0.5%
1999 74.2 years +0.4%
2000 74.44 years +0.3%
2001 74.67 years +0.3%
2002 74.8 years +0.2%
2003 75.02 years +0.3%
2004 75.41 years +0.5%
2005 75.94 years +0.7%
2006 75.9 years -0.1%
2007 76.13 years +0.3%
2008 76.48 years +0.5%
2009 76.84 years +0.5%
2010 77.12 years +0.4%
2011 77.7 years +0.8%
2012 78.07 years +0.5%
2013 78.28 years +0.3%
2014 78.56 years +0.4%
2015 78.77 years +0.3%
2016 78.94 years +0.2%
2017 79.09 years +0.2%
2018 79.02 years -0.1%
2019 79.44 years +0.5%
2020 79.58 years +0.2%
2021 79.57 years -0.0%
2022 79.42 years -0.2%
2023 80.02 years +0.7%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 70 years 69.11 years 70.59 years 10
1960s 70.47 years 70.19 years 70.86 years 10
1970s 71.1 years 70.8 years 71.73 years 10
1980s 71.62 years 71.17 years 72.05 years 10
1990s 72.99 years 72.03 years 74.2 years 10
2000s 75.56 years 74.44 years 76.84 years 10
2010s 78.5 years 77.12 years 79.44 years 10
2020s 79.65 years 79.42 years 80.02 years 4

Countries ranked near Denmark

  1. 31 New Zealand 80.41 years compare
  2. 32 Ireland 80.37 years compare
  3. 33 Israel 80.18 years compare
  4. 35 Belgium 79.86 years compare
  5. 36 Maldives 79.69 years compare
  6. 37 Cyprus 79.64 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Denmark

All data for Denmark →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy at birth, by sex in Denmark?
Life expectancy at birth, by sex in Denmark was 80.02 years in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest life expectancy at birth, by sex recorded in Denmark?
The highest recorded value was 80.02 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy at birth, by sex recorded in Denmark?
The lowest recorded value was 69.11 years in 1950.
How does Denmark rank for life expectancy at birth, by sex?
Denmark ranks 34th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy at birth, by sex rising or falling in Denmark?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Denmark data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy at birth, by sex. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Life expectancy at birth, by sex in Denmark. Statizoid, drawing on UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 05 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/female-and-male-life-expectancy-at-birth-in-years/denmark/

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About this data

Indicator
Life expectancy at birth, by sex
Unit
years
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

Period life expectancy at birth.