Healthy life expectancy in Cameroon

Cameroon: Healthy life expectancy was 54.01 Years in 2021. ▲ Rising

Latest (2021)
54.01 Years
Change on year
down 0.7%
World rank
161st
of 185 countries
All-time high
54.37 Years
in 2020
All-time low
46.09 Years
in 2001
Years of data
22
2000–2021

Healthy life expectancy in Cameroon, 2000–2021

02040602000201020212000: 46.1 Years2001: 46.1 Years2002: 46.1 Years2003: 46.3 Years2004: 46.7 Years2005: 47.2 Years2006: 47.5 Years2007: 48 Years2008: 48.6 Years2009: 49.2 Years2010: 49.6 Years2011: 50.1 Years2012: 50.5 Years2013: 50.9 Years2014: 51.1 Years2015: 51.6 Years2016: 52.3 Years2017: 53.1 Years2018: 53.7 Years2019: 54.2 Years2020: 54.4 Years2021: 54 Years

Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in Years.

Analysis

Cameroon recorded 54.01 Years for healthy life expectancy in 2021.

That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and up 7.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, healthy life expectancy in Cameroon peaked at 54.37 Years in 2020 and was at its lowest, 46.09 Years, in 2001.

Cameroon ranks 161st of 185 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 47.18 Years 46.09 Years 49.17 Years 10
2010s 51.72 Years 49.63 Years 54.24 Years 10
2020s 54.19 Years 54.01 Years 54.37 Years 2

Countries ranked near Cameroon

  1. 158 Congo 54.84 Years compare
  2. 159 Malawi 54.67 Years compare
  3. 160 Burkina Faso 54.56 Years compare
  4. 162 Liberia 53.96 Years compare
  5. 163 Haiti 53.94 Years compare
  6. 164 Angola 53.76 Years compare

See the full ranking of 185 places →

More health data for Cameroon

All data for Cameroon →

Frequently asked questions

What is healthy life expectancy in Cameroon?
Healthy life expectancy in Cameroon was 54.01 Years in 2021, according to World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest healthy life expectancy recorded in Cameroon?
The highest recorded value was 54.37 Years in 2020.
What is the lowest healthy life expectancy recorded in Cameroon?
The lowest recorded value was 46.09 Years in 2001.
How does Cameroon rank for healthy life expectancy?
Cameroon ranks 161st out of 185 countries with data for 2021.
Is healthy life expectancy rising or falling in Cameroon?
Over the last ten years it is up 7.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Cameroon data come from?
The figures come from World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Healthy life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Healthy life expectancy
Unit
Years
Source
World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
185 places, 4,070 data points, 2000–2021
Last refreshed

The estimated average number of years lived free from disability or disease burden. This is based on period life expectancy, after adjusting for the number of years lived in less than "full health" due to disease and/or injury.