Healthy life expectancy in Namibia

Namibia: Healthy life expectancy was 52.82 Years in 2021. ▲ Rising

Latest (2021)
52.82 Years
Change on year
down 5.2%
World rank
173rd
of 185 countries
All-time high
55.72 Years
in 2020
All-time low
45.4 Years
in 2003
Years of data
22
2000–2021

Healthy life expectancy in Namibia, 2000–2021

02040602000201020212000: 46.7 Years2001: 46.2 Years2002: 45.7 Years2003: 45.4 Years2004: 45.6 Years2005: 46.6 Years2006: 48.1 Years2007: 49.9 Years2008: 51.4 Years2009: 52.1 Years2010: 52.7 Years2011: 53.3 Years2012: 53.8 Years2013: 54.1 Years2014: 54.2 Years2015: 54.1 Years2016: 54.3 Years2017: 54.6 Years2018: 55 Years2019: 55.5 Years2020: 55.7 Years2021: 52.8 Years

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

Analysis

Namibia recorded 52.82 Years for healthy life expectancy in 2021.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 5.2% on the previous year and down 0.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, healthy life expectancy in Namibia peaked at 55.72 Years in 2020 and was at its lowest, 45.4 Years, in 2003.

That places Namibia 173rd out of 185 countries with data for 2021, putting it 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 47.77 Years 45.4 Years 52.12 Years 10
2010s 54.15 Years 52.66 Years 55.53 Years 10
2020s 54.27 Years 52.82 Years 55.72 Years 2

Countries ranked near Namibia

  1. 170 Sierra Leone 53.13 Years compare
  2. 171 Botswana 53.1 Years compare
  3. 172 Zambia 52.97 Years compare
  4. 174 South Africa 52.76 Years compare
  5. 175 Niger 52.61 Years compare
  6. 176 Chad 51.52 Years compare

See the full ranking of 185 places →

More health data for Namibia

All data for Namibia →

Frequently asked questions

What is healthy life expectancy in Namibia?
Healthy life expectancy in Namibia was 52.82 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 Namibia?
The highest recorded value was 55.72 Years in 2020.
What is the lowest healthy life expectancy recorded in Namibia?
The lowest recorded value was 45.4 Years in 2003.
How does Namibia rank for healthy life expectancy?
Namibia ranks 173rd out of 185 countries with data for 2021.
Is healthy life expectancy rising or falling in Namibia?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Namibia 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.