Inequality in life expectancy in Nigeria

Nigeria: Inequality in life expectancy was 0.3864 in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
0.3864
Change on year
down 1.3%
World rank
1st
of 195 countries
All-time high
0.4405
in 2010
All-time low
0.3864
in 2023
Years of data
14
2010–2023

Inequality in life expectancy in Nigeria, 2010–2023

00.10.20.30.42010201620232010: 0.442011: 0.4362012: 0.4342013: 0.432014: 0.4272015: 0.4242016: 0.4222017: 0.4182018: 0.4132019: 0.4092020: 0.4022021: 0.3982022: 0.3912023: 0.386

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Nigeria recorded 0.3864 for inequality in life expectancy in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.

The figure is down 1.3% on the previous year and down 10.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, inequality in life expectancy in Nigeria peaked at 0.4405 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.3864, in 2023.

Nigeria ranks 1st of 195 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 0.4255 0.4091 0.4405 10
2020s 0.3944 0.3864 0.4019 4

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 2 Niger 0.3766 compare
  2. 3 Chad 0.374 compare
  3. 4 Somalia 0.3721 compare

See the full ranking of 195 places →

More health data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is inequality in life expectancy in Nigeria?
Inequality in life expectancy in Nigeria was 0.3864 in 2023, according to UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest inequality in life expectancy recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 0.4405 in 2010.
What is the lowest inequality in life expectancy recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 0.3864 in 2023.
How does Nigeria rank for inequality in life expectancy?
Nigeria ranks 1st out of 195 countries with data for 2023.
Is inequality in life expectancy rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is down 10.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Nigeria data come from?
The figures come from UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Inequality in life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Inequality in life expectancy
Source
UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
195 places, 2,730 data points, 2010–2023
Last refreshed

The Atkinson index measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Inequality is measured here in terms of the number of years a newborn would live if age-specific mortality rates in the current year were to stay the same throughout its life.