Life expectancy in Cuba
Cuba: Life expectancy was 78.09 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
78.09 years
Change on year
up 0.6%
World rank
74th
of 236 countries
All-time high
78.16 years
in 2012
All-time low
18.9 years
in 1899
Years of data
85
1899–2023
Life expectancy in Cuba, 1899–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Cuba recorded 78.09 years for life expectancy in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in Cuba peaked at 78.16 years in 2012 and was at its lowest, 18.9 years, in 1899.
Cuba ranks 74th of 236 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 85 years of available data.
Life expectancy in Cuba, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1899 | 18.9 years | — |
| 1900 | 32 years | +69.3% |
| 1905 | 34.16 years | +6.7% |
| 1910 | 36 years | +5.4% |
| 1915 | 36.29 years | +0.8% |
| 1920 | 39 years | +7.5% |
| 1925 | 38.76 years | -0.6% |
| 1930 | 42 years | +8.4% |
| 1935 | 44.57 years | +6.1% |
| 1940 | 45 years | +1.0% |
| 1945 | 50.93 years | +13.2% |
| 1950 | 58.99 years | +15.8% |
| 1951 | 59.41 years | +0.7% |
| 1952 | 59.83 years | +0.7% |
| 1953 | 60.24 years | +0.7% |
| 1954 | 60.69 years | +0.7% |
| 1955 | 61.15 years | +0.8% |
| 1956 | 61.48 years | +0.5% |
| 1957 | 61.9 years | +0.7% |
| 1958 | 62.32 years | +0.7% |
| 1959 | 62.83 years | +0.8% |
| 1960 | 63.32 years | +0.8% |
| 1961 | 63.74 years | +0.7% |
| 1962 | 64.37 years | +1.0% |
| 1963 | 64.35 years | -0.0% |
| 1964 | 65.26 years | +1.4% |
| 1965 | 65.64 years | +0.6% |
| 1966 | 66.07 years | +0.7% |
| 1967 | 66.51 years | +0.7% |
| 1968 | 66.94 years | +0.6% |
| 1969 | 67.36 years | +0.6% |
| 1970 | 67.94 years | +0.9% |
| 1971 | 68.43 years | +0.7% |
| 1972 | 68.95 years | +0.8% |
| 1973 | 69.35 years | +0.6% |
| 1974 | 69.87 years | +0.7% |
| 1975 | 70.37 years | +0.7% |
| 1976 | 70.88 years | +0.7% |
| 1977 | 71.41 years | +0.8% |
| 1978 | 71.89 years | +0.7% |
| 1979 | 72.27 years | +0.5% |
| 1980 | 72.6 years | +0.5% |
| 1981 | 73 years | +0.5% |
| 1982 | 73.44 years | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 73.56 years | +0.2% |
| 1984 | 73.55 years | -0.0% |
| 1985 | 73.46 years | -0.1% |
| 1986 | 73.56 years | +0.1% |
| 1987 | 73.6 years | +0.1% |
| 1988 | 73.72 years | +0.2% |
| 1989 | 73.69 years | -0.0% |
| 1990 | 73.82 years | +0.2% |
| 1991 | 73.76 years | -0.1% |
| 1992 | 73.85 years | +0.1% |
| 1993 | 73.87 years | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 74.09 years | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 74.35 years | +0.3% |
| 1996 | 74.69 years | +0.5% |
| 1997 | 75.06 years | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 75.41 years | +0.5% |
| 1999 | 75.72 years | +0.4% |
| 2000 | 75.92 years | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 76.43 years | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 76.77 years | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 77.4 years | +0.8% |
| 2004 | 77.33 years | -0.1% |
| 2005 | 77.54 years | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 77.41 years | -0.2% |
| 2007 | 77.55 years | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 77.59 years | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 77.58 years | -0.0% |
| 2010 | 77.88 years | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 78.05 years | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 78.16 years | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 78.03 years | -0.2% |
| 2014 | 77.82 years | -0.3% |
| 2015 | 77.75 years | -0.1% |
| 2016 | 77.57 years | -0.2% |
| 2017 | 77.3 years | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 77.43 years | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 77.41 years | -0.0% |
| 2020 | 77.41 years | -0.0% |
| 2021 | 73.2 years | -5.4% |
| 2022 | 77.63 years | +6.0% |
| 2023 | 78.09 years | +0.6% |
Cuba compared with similar countries
- Cuba's 78.09 years is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 74.42 years, 1.0× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Cuba's 78.09 years is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 75.34 years, 1.0× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Life expectancy in Cuba changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | +69.3% | 18.9 years | 32 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 18.9 years | 18.9 years | 18.9 years | 1 |
| 1900s | 33.08 years | 32 years | 34.16 years | 2 |
| 1910s | 36.14 years | 36 years | 36.29 years | 2 |
| 1920s | 38.88 years | 38.76 years | 39 years | 2 |
| 1930s | 43.29 years | 42 years | 44.57 years | 2 |
| 1940s | 47.97 years | 45 years | 50.93 years | 2 |
| 1950s | 60.89 years | 58.99 years | 62.83 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 65.36 years | 63.32 years | 67.36 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 70.14 years | 67.94 years | 72.27 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 73.42 years | 72.6 years | 73.72 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 74.46 years | 73.76 years | 75.72 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 77.15 years | 75.92 years | 77.59 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 77.74 years | 77.3 years | 78.16 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 76.58 years | 73.2 years | 78.09 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Cuba
More health data for Cuba
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.47 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.2059 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,696 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 67 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -2.62 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2020)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.021 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -2.64 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2020)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy in Cuba?
- Life expectancy in Cuba was 78.09 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 Cuba?
- The highest recorded value was 78.16 years in 2012.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Cuba?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.9 years in 1899.
- How does Cuba rank for life expectancy?
- Cuba ranks 74th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in Cuba?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Cuba 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 — 85 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.