What is life expectancy in Switzerland?

Life expectancy in Switzerland was 83.95 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 Switzerland?

The highest recorded value was 83.95 years in 2023.

What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Switzerland?

The lowest recorded value was 39.99 years in 1877.

How does Switzerland rank for life expectancy?

Switzerland ranks 9th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.

Is life expectancy rising or falling in Switzerland?

Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Switzerland 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 Switzerland

Name: Life expectancy in Switzerland
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)

Switzerland: Life expectancy was 83.95 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

83.95 years

Change on year

up 0.9%

World rank

9th

of 236 countries

All-time high

83.95 years

in 2023

All-time low

39.99 years

in 1877

Years of data

148

1876–2023

Life expectancy in Switzerland, 1876–2023

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

Analysis

Switzerland recorded 83.95 years for life expectancy in 2023. That is the highest value across all 148 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.9% on the previous year and up 1.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy in Switzerland peaked at 83.95 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 39.99 years, in 1877.

Switzerland ranks 9th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 148 years of available data.

Life expectancy in Switzerland, year by year

Annual values for Life expectancy in Switzerland, 1876 to 2023.
Year	years	Change
1876	40.19 years	—
1877	39.99 years	-0.5%
1878	40.57 years	+1.5%
1879	41.83 years	+3.1%
1880	42.47 years	+1.5%
1881	41.94 years	-1.2%
1882	43.02 years	+2.6%
1883	45.02 years	+4.6%
1884	45.07 years	+0.1%
1885	43.92 years	-2.6%
1886	44.75 years	+1.9%
1887	45.46 years	+1.6%
1888	46 years	+1.2%
1889	45.18 years	-1.8%
1890	45.01 years	-0.4%
1891	44.81 years	-0.4%
1892	47.2 years	+5.3%
1893	46.08 years	-2.4%
1894	45.85 years	-0.5%
1895	46.93 years	+2.4%
1896	48.87 years	+4.1%
1897	49.1 years	+0.5%
1898	48.26 years	-1.7%
1899	49.31 years	+2.2%
1900	47.59 years	-3.5%
1901	48.97 years	+2.9%
1902	50.44 years	+3.0%
1903	50.08 years	-0.7%
1904	49.23 years	-1.7%
1905	49.69 years	+0.9%
1906	50.75 years	+2.1%
1907	51.19 years	+0.9%
1908	52.29 years	+2.1%
1909	51.65 years	-1.2%
1910	52.93 years	+2.5%
1911	51.77 years	-2.2%
1912	54.4 years	+5.1%
1913	54.23 years	-0.3%
1914	55.11 years	+1.6%
1915	55.91 years	+1.5%
1916	56.52 years	+1.1%
1917	55.77 years	-1.3%
1918	46.3 years	-17.0%
1919	54.83 years	+18.4%
1920	54.5 years	-0.6%
1921	57.77 years	+6.0%
1922	58.48 years	+1.2%
1923	59.98 years	+2.6%
1924	59.47 years	-0.9%
1925	59.91 years	+0.7%
1926	60.59 years	+1.1%
1927	60.09 years	-0.8%
1928	60.43 years	+0.6%
1929	60.14 years	-0.5%
1930	61.4 years	+2.1%
1931	61.23 years	-0.3%
1932	61.2 years	-0.0%
1933	62.37 years	+1.9%
1934	62.83 years	+0.7%
1935	62.13 years	-1.1%
1936	63.14 years	+1.6%
1937	63.48 years	+0.5%
1938	63.83 years	+0.6%
1939	63.98 years	+0.2%
1940	63.54 years	-0.7%
1941	64.91 years	+2.2%
1942	65.63 years	+1.1%
1943	65.82 years	+0.3%
1944	64.86 years	-1.5%
1945	65.38 years	+0.8%
1946	66.06 years	+1.0%
1947	66.23 years	+0.3%
1948	67.31 years	+1.6%
1949	67.95 years	+1.0%
1950	68.91 years	+1.4%
1951	68.69 years	-0.3%
1952	69.59 years	+1.3%
1953	69.52 years	-0.1%
1954	69.98 years	+0.7%
1955	70.07 years	+0.1%
1956	70.2 years	+0.2%
1957	70.54 years	+0.5%
1958	71.29 years	+1.1%
1959	71.45 years	+0.2%
1960	71.41 years	-0.1%
1961	71.74 years	+0.5%
1962	71.3 years	-0.6%
1963	71.29 years	-0.0%
1964	72.18 years	+1.2%
1965	72.32 years	+0.2%
1966	72.45 years	+0.2%
1967	72.74 years	+0.4%
1968	72.71 years	-0.0%
1969	72.72 years	+0.0%
1970	73.12 years	+0.6%
1971	73.24 years	+0.2%
1972	73.76 years	+0.7%
1973	74.06 years	+0.4%
1974	74.4 years	+0.5%
1975	74.79 years	+0.5%
1976	74.91 years	+0.2%
1977	75.37 years	+0.6%
1978	75.31 years	-0.1%
1979	75.61 years	+0.4%
1980	75.59 years	-0.0%
1981	75.82 years	+0.3%
1982	76.16 years	+0.5%
1983	76.16 years	-0.0%
1984	76.76 years	+0.8%
1985	76.88 years	+0.2%
1986	77.04 years	+0.2%
1987	77.33 years	+0.4%
1988	77.36 years	+0.0%
1989	77.56 years	+0.2%
1990	77.39 years	-0.2%
1991	77.65 years	+0.3%
1992	77.94 years	+0.4%
1993	78.23 years	+0.4%
1994	78.49 years	+0.3%
1995	78.56 years	+0.1%
1996	79.05 years	+0.6%
1997	79.23 years	+0.2%
1998	79.48 years	+0.3%
1999	79.72 years	+0.3%
2000	79.83 years	+0.1%
2001	80.25 years	+0.5%
2002	80.44 years	+0.2%
2003	80.53 years	+0.1%
2004	81.05 years	+0.6%
2005	81.24 years	+0.2%
2006	81.55 years	+0.4%
2007	81.7 years	+0.2%
2008	81.97 years	+0.3%
2009	81.99 years	+0.0%
2010	82.29 years	+0.4%
2011	82.57 years	+0.3%
2012	82.62 years	+0.1%
2013	82.69 years	+0.1%
2014	83.08 years	+0.5%
2015	82.85 years	-0.3%
2016	83.45 years	+0.7%
2017	83.41 years	-0.0%
2018	83.56 years	+0.2%
2019	83.78 years	+0.3%
2020	83.06 years	-0.9%
2021	83.65 years	+0.7%
2022	83.2 years	-0.5%
2023	83.95 years	+0.9%

Switzerland compared with similar countries

Switzerland's 83.95 years is above the median for high income countries, which is 81 years, 1.0× the median. (85 countries reporting)
Switzerland's 83.95 years is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 79.72 years, 1.1× the median. (56 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1870s	40.64 years	39.99 years	41.83 years	4
1880s	44.28 years	41.94 years	46 years	10
1890s	47.14 years	44.81 years	49.31 years	10
1900s	50.19 years	47.59 years	52.29 years	10
1910s	53.78 years	46.3 years	56.52 years	10
1920s	59.14 years	54.5 years	60.59 years	10
1930s	62.56 years	61.2 years	63.98 years	10
1940s	65.77 years	63.54 years	67.95 years	10
1950s	70.02 years	68.69 years	71.45 years	10
1960s	72.09 years	71.29 years	72.74 years	10
1970s	74.46 years	73.12 years	75.61 years	10
1980s	76.67 years	75.59 years	77.56 years	10
1990s	78.58 years	77.39 years	79.72 years	10
2000s	81.06 years	79.83 years	81.99 years	10
2010s	83.03 years	82.29 years	83.78 years	10
2020s	83.47 years	83.06 years	83.95 years	4

Countries ranked near Switzerland

6 Saint Barthelemy 84.29 years compare
7 French Polynesia 84.07 years compare
8 Andorra 84.04 years compare
10 Australia 83.92 years compare
11 Singapore 83.74 years compare
12 Italy 83.72 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Switzerland

Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.13 % change on previous year (2100)
Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -1.27 % change on previous year (2090)
Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,104 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
Number of infants who die before age 1 46 deaths (2100)
Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 1 (2023)
Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 0.0481 % 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 0.0233 units per person (2025)
Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -0.0927 % change on previous year (2025)
Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)

All data for Switzerland →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in Switzerland?: Life expectancy in Switzerland was 83.95 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 Switzerland?: The highest recorded value was 83.95 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Switzerland?: The lowest recorded value was 39.99 years in 1877.
How does Switzerland rank for life expectancy?: Switzerland ranks 9th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy rising or falling in Switzerland?: Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Switzerland 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.

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Life expectancy in Switzerland. Statizoid, drawing on Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/life-expectancy-marimekko/switzerland/

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<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/life-expectancy-marimekko/switzerland/">Life expectancy in Switzerland</a> — Statizoid

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: 18 September 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.