Life expectancy at birth in Sweden

Sweden: Life expectancy at birth was 83.26 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
83.26 years
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
21st
of 236 countries
All-time high
83.26 years
in 2023
All-time low
71.14 years
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Life expectancy at birth in Sweden, 1950–2023

020406080195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

In 2023, life expectancy at birth in Sweden stood at 83.26 years. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 1.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy at birth in Sweden peaked at 83.26 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 71.14 years, in 1950.

Sweden ranks 21st of 236 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 72.29 years 71.14 years 73.37 years 10
1960s 73.74 years 73.04 years 74.15 years 10
1970s 75.02 years 74.6 years 75.52 years 10
1980s 76.7 years 75.74 years 77.65 years 10
1990s 78.63 years 77.59 years 79.51 years 10
2000s 80.52 years 79.74 years 81.36 years 10
2010s 82.17 years 81.52 years 83.05 years 10
2020s 82.94 years 82.43 years 83.26 years 4

Countries ranked near Sweden

  1. 18 Norway 83.31 years compare
  2. 20 Guernsey 83.27 years compare
  3. 22 Macao 83.08 years compare
  4. 23 Vatican 82.98 years compare
  5. 24 United Arab Emirates 82.91 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Sweden

All data for Sweden →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy at birth in Sweden?
Life expectancy at birth in Sweden was 83.26 years in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest life expectancy at birth recorded in Sweden?
The highest recorded value was 83.26 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy at birth recorded in Sweden?
The lowest recorded value was 71.14 years in 1950.
How does Sweden rank for life expectancy at birth?
Sweden ranks 21st out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy at birth rising or falling in Sweden?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sweden data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy at birth. 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

Indicator
Life expectancy at birth
Unit
years
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

Period life expectancy at birth.