Life expectancy in Somalia
Somalia: Life expectancy was 58.82 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy in Somalia, 1950–2023
Source: Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2023, life expectancy in Somalia stood at 58.82 years. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.
That represents a change of up 9.1% on the previous year and up 8.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in Somalia peaked at 58.82 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 25.03 years, in 1992.
Somalia ranks 231st of 236 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 42.4 years | 41.45 years | 43.34 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 44.5 years | 43.54 years | 45.45 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 45.86 years | 44.26 years | 47.41 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 47.64 years | 43.93 years | 49 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 45.1 years | 25.03 years | 50.76 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 51.01 years | 50.68 years | 52.1 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 51.35 years | 32.45 years | 57.25 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 56.39 years | 53.93 years | 58.82 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Somalia
More health data for Somalia
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 987.7 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 32,421 deaths (2100)
- Deaths in armed conflicts based on where they occurred 1,320 deaths (2026)
- Deaths in armed conflicts by region 1,320 deaths (2026)
- Age population, age 25, male, interpolated 161,442 (2025)
- Age population, age 25, female, interpolated 160,345 (2025)
- Age population, age 24, male, interpolated 166,877 (2025)
- Age population, age 24, female, interpolated 165,473 (2025)
- Age population, age 23, male, interpolated 172,667 (2025)
- Age population, age 23, female, interpolated 170,886 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy in Somalia?
- Life expectancy in Somalia was 58.82 years in 2023, according to Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest life expectancy recorded in Somalia?
- The highest recorded value was 58.82 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Somalia?
- The lowest recorded value was 25.03 years in 1992.
- How does Somalia rank for life expectancy?
- Somalia ranks 231st out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in Somalia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Somalia data come from?
- The figures come from Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. 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
The period life expectancy at birth among totals, in a given year.