Life expectancy in Ireland
Ireland: Life expectancy was 82.41 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
82.41 years
Change on year
up 0.4%
World rank
28th
of 236 countries
All-time high
82.41 years
in 2023
All-time low
49.4 years
in 1901
Years of data
80
1901–2023
Life expectancy in Ireland, 1901–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 82.41 years for life expectancy in 2023. That is the highest value across all 80 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 1.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in Ireland peaked at 82.41 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 49.4 years, in 1901.
That places Ireland 28th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 80 years of available data.
Life expectancy in Ireland, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 49.4 years | — |
| 1911 | 53.8 years | +8.9% |
| 1926 | 57.6 years | +7.1% |
| 1936 | 58.9 years | +2.3% |
| 1941 | 60 years | +1.9% |
| 1946 | 61.4 years | +2.3% |
| 1950 | 65.58 years | +6.8% |
| 1951 | 64.75 years | -1.3% |
| 1952 | 67.17 years | +3.7% |
| 1953 | 67.91 years | +1.1% |
| 1954 | 68.01 years | +0.1% |
| 1955 | 68 years | -0.0% |
| 1956 | 68.96 years | +1.4% |
| 1957 | 69 years | +0.1% |
| 1958 | 69.27 years | +0.4% |
| 1959 | 69.42 years | +0.2% |
| 1960 | 70.17 years | +1.1% |
| 1961 | 69.64 years | -0.8% |
| 1962 | 69.95 years | +0.4% |
| 1963 | 70.19 years | +0.3% |
| 1964 | 70.45 years | +0.4% |
| 1965 | 70.64 years | +0.3% |
| 1966 | 70.16 years | -0.7% |
| 1967 | 71.2 years | +1.5% |
| 1968 | 70.88 years | -0.4% |
| 1969 | 70.8 years | -0.1% |
| 1970 | 70.83 years | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 71.62 years | +1.1% |
| 1972 | 70.95 years | -0.9% |
| 1973 | 71.17 years | +0.3% |
| 1974 | 71.11 years | -0.1% |
| 1975 | 71.69 years | +0.8% |
| 1976 | 71.8 years | +0.2% |
| 1977 | 71.94 years | +0.2% |
| 1978 | 71.93 years | -0.0% |
| 1979 | 72.18 years | +0.3% |
| 1980 | 72.54 years | +0.5% |
| 1981 | 72.89 years | +0.5% |
| 1982 | 73.15 years | +0.4% |
| 1983 | 73.18 years | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 73.62 years | +0.6% |
| 1985 | 73.56 years | -0.1% |
| 1986 | 73.61 years | +0.1% |
| 1987 | 74.41 years | +1.1% |
| 1988 | 74.43 years | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 74.45 years | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 74.84 years | +0.5% |
| 1991 | 75.03 years | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 75.42 years | +0.5% |
| 1993 | 75.29 years | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 75.8 years | +0.7% |
| 1995 | 75.47 years | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 75.83 years | +0.5% |
| 1997 | 75.98 years | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 76.18 years | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 76.09 years | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 76.53 years | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 77.1 years | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 77.59 years | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 78.1 years | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 78.5 years | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 78.91 years | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 79.15 years | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 79.56 years | +0.5% |
| 2008 | 79.79 years | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 80.1 years | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 80.6 years | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 80.73 years | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 80.85 years | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 81.06 years | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 81.41 years | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 81.53 years | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 81.68 years | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 82.1 years | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 82.12 years | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 82.41 years | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 82.39 years | -0.0% |
| 2021 | 81.86 years | -0.6% |
| 2022 | 82.05 years | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 82.41 years | +0.4% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 82.41 years is above the median for high income countries, which is 81 years, 1.0× the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 82.41 years is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 79.72 years, 1.0× the median. (56 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 49.4 years | 49.4 years | 49.4 years | 1 |
| 1910s | 53.8 years | 53.8 years | 53.8 years | 1 |
| 1920s | 57.6 years | 57.6 years | 57.6 years | 1 |
| 1930s | 58.9 years | 58.9 years | 58.9 years | 1 |
| 1940s | 60.7 years | 60 years | 61.4 years | 2 |
| 1950s | 67.81 years | 64.75 years | 69.42 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 70.41 years | 69.64 years | 71.2 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 71.52 years | 70.83 years | 72.18 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 73.58 years | 72.54 years | 74.45 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 75.59 years | 74.84 years | 76.18 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 78.53 years | 76.53 years | 80.1 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 81.45 years | 80.6 years | 82.41 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 82.18 years | 81.86 years | 82.41 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More health data for Ireland
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -4.76 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.89 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,122 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 20 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -0.7228 % 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 0.026 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -0.6489 % 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 in Ireland?
- Life expectancy in Ireland was 82.41 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 Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 82.41 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 49.4 years in 1901.
- How does Ireland rank for life expectancy?
- Ireland ranks 28th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland 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 — 80 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.