What is life expectancy in Australia?

Life expectancy in Australia was 83.92 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 recorded in Australia?

The highest recorded value was 83.92 years in 2023.

What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Australia?

The lowest recorded value was 49.05 years in 1885.

How does Australia rank for life expectancy?

Australia ranks 10th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.

Is life expectancy rising or falling in Australia?

Over the last ten years it is up 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Australia 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. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Life expectancy in Australia

Name: Life expectancy in Australia
Creator: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Australia: Life expectancy was 83.92 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

83.92 years

Change on year

up 1.4%

World rank

10th

of 236 countries

All-time high

83.92 years

in 2023

All-time low

49.05 years

in 1885

Years of data

106

1885–2023

Life expectancy in Australia, 1885–2023

Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

The most recent figure for life expectancy in Australia is 83.92 years, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 106 years on record.

The figure is up 1.4% on the previous year and up 1.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy in Australia peaked at 83.92 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 49.05 years, in 1885.

That places Australia 10th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 106 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1880s	49.05 years	49.05 years	49.05 years	1
1890s	52.95 years	52.95 years	52.95 years	1
1900s	57 years	57 years	57 years	1
1920s	62.54 years	60.97 years	63.17 years	9
1930s	65.35 years	64.79 years	65.76 years	10
1940s	67.47 years	65.79 years	69.09 years	10
1950s	69.82 years	68.7 years	70.86 years	10
1960s	70.87 years	70.57 years	71.13 years	10
1970s	72.49 years	70.65 years	74.33 years	10
1980s	75.51 years	74.57 years	76.34 years	10
1990s	78.14 years	77.04 years	79.28 years	10
2000s	80.76 years	79.62 years	81.73 years	10
2010s	82.61 years	82.01 years	83.26 years	10
2020s	83.48 years	82.77 years	83.92 years	4

Countries ranked near Australia

7 French Polynesia 84.07 years compare
8 Andorra 84.04 years compare
9 Switzerland 83.95 years compare
11 Singapore 83.74 years compare
12 Italy 83.72 years compare
13 Spain 83.67 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Australia

Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 906.6 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
Number of infants who die before age 1 215 deaths (2100)
Deaths in armed conflicts based on where they occurred 0 deaths (2026)
Deaths in armed conflicts by region 0 deaths (2026)
Age population, age 25, male, interpolated 178,762 (2025)
Age population, age 25, female, interpolated 168,402 (2025)
Age population, age 24, male, interpolated 173,667 (2025)
Age population, age 24, female, interpolated 163,850 (2025)
Age population, age 23, male, interpolated 166,847 (2025)
Age population, age 23, female, interpolated 158,717 (2025)

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in Australia?: Life expectancy in Australia was 83.92 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 recorded in Australia?: The highest recorded value was 83.92 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Australia?: The lowest recorded value was 49.05 years in 1885.
How does Australia rank for life expectancy?: Australia ranks 10th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy rising or falling in Australia?: Over the last ten years it is up 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Australia 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. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 106 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator: Life expectancy
Unit: years
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 236 places, 19,452 data points, 1543–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

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.