Life expectancy for people of different ages in Tonga
Tonga: Life expectancy for people of different ages was 72.89 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
72.89 years
Change on year
up 0.4%
World rank
140th
of 236 countries
All-time high
72.89 years
in 2023
All-time low
48.38 years
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023
Life expectancy for people of different ages in Tonga, 1950–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Tonga recorded 72.89 years for life expectancy for people of different ages in 2023. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.
The figure is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 1.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy for people of different ages in Tonga peaked at 72.89 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 48.38 years, in 1950.
That places Tonga 140th 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.
Life expectancy for people of different ages in Tonga, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 48.38 years | — |
| 1951 | 49.79 years | +2.9% |
| 1952 | 51.16 years | +2.7% |
| 1953 | 52.45 years | +2.5% |
| 1954 | 53.56 years | +2.1% |
| 1955 | 54.66 years | +2.1% |
| 1956 | 55.66 years | +1.8% |
| 1957 | 56.51 years | +1.5% |
| 1958 | 57.21 years | +1.2% |
| 1959 | 57.77 years | +1.0% |
| 1960 | 58.31 years | +1.0% |
| 1961 | 58.76 years | +0.8% |
| 1962 | 59.3 years | +0.9% |
| 1963 | 59.77 years | +0.8% |
| 1964 | 60.25 years | +0.8% |
| 1965 | 60.72 years | +0.8% |
| 1966 | 61.21 years | +0.8% |
| 1967 | 61.69 years | +0.8% |
| 1968 | 62.16 years | +0.8% |
| 1969 | 62.7 years | +0.9% |
| 1970 | 63.18 years | +0.8% |
| 1971 | 63.61 years | +0.7% |
| 1972 | 64.06 years | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 64.39 years | +0.5% |
| 1974 | 64.82 years | +0.7% |
| 1975 | 65.12 years | +0.5% |
| 1976 | 65.42 years | +0.5% |
| 1977 | 65.62 years | +0.3% |
| 1978 | 65.85 years | +0.3% |
| 1979 | 66.04 years | +0.3% |
| 1980 | 66.19 years | +0.2% |
| 1981 | 66.36 years | +0.3% |
| 1982 | 66.33 years | -0.0% |
| 1983 | 66.65 years | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 66.81 years | +0.2% |
| 1985 | 66.93 years | +0.2% |
| 1986 | 67.06 years | +0.2% |
| 1987 | 67.19 years | +0.2% |
| 1988 | 67.32 years | +0.2% |
| 1989 | 67.45 years | +0.2% |
| 1990 | 67.54 years | +0.1% |
| 1991 | 67.75 years | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 67.93 years | +0.3% |
| 1993 | 68.16 years | +0.3% |
| 1994 | 68.37 years | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 68.59 years | +0.3% |
| 1996 | 68.8 years | +0.3% |
| 1997 | 69.01 years | +0.3% |
| 1998 | 69.22 years | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 69.43 years | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 69.63 years | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 69.8 years | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 70.03 years | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 70.23 years | +0.3% |
| 2004 | 70.43 years | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 70.56 years | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 70.71 years | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 70.89 years | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 71.04 years | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 70.95 years | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 71.32 years | +0.5% |
| 2011 | 71.44 years | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 71.55 years | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 71.65 years | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 71.72 years | +0.1% |
| 2015 | 71.85 years | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 71.95 years | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 72.07 years | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 72.17 years | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 72.29 years | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 72.38 years | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 72.13 years | -0.3% |
| 2022 | 72.64 years | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 72.89 years | +0.4% |
Tonga compared with similar countries
- Tonga's 72.89 years is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 74.42 years, 98% of the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Tonga's 72.89 years is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 72.85 years, 1.0× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 53.71 years | 48.38 years | 57.77 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 60.49 years | 58.31 years | 62.7 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 64.81 years | 63.18 years | 66.04 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 66.83 years | 66.19 years | 67.45 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 68.48 years | 67.54 years | 69.43 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 70.43 years | 69.63 years | 71.04 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 71.8 years | 71.32 years | 72.29 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 72.51 years | 72.13 years | 72.89 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Tonga
More health data for Tonga
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -33.33 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 2.33 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 834.5 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 2 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -1.42 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.0535 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -1.36 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy for people of different ages in Tonga?
- Life expectancy for people of different ages in Tonga was 72.89 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest life expectancy for people of different ages recorded in Tonga?
- The highest recorded value was 72.89 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest life expectancy for people of different ages recorded in Tonga?
- The lowest recorded value was 48.38 years in 1950.
- How does Tonga rank for life expectancy for people of different ages?
- Tonga ranks 140th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy for people of different ages rising or falling in Tonga?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Tonga data come from?
- The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy for people of different ages. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.