Life expectancy in Australia
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
In 2023, life expectancy in Australia stood at 83.92 years. 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.
Life expectancy in Australia, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1885 | 49.05 years | — |
| 1895 | 52.95 years | +8.0% |
| 1905 | 57 years | +7.6% |
| 1921 | 60.97 years | +7.0% |
| 1922 | 62.83 years | +3.1% |
| 1923 | 61.68 years | -1.8% |
| 1924 | 62.48 years | +1.3% |
| 1925 | 63.17 years | +1.1% |
| 1926 | 62.88 years | -0.5% |
| 1927 | 62.84 years | -0.1% |
| 1928 | 62.91 years | +0.1% |
| 1929 | 63.08 years | +0.3% |
| 1930 | 64.9 years | +2.9% |
| 1931 | 65.32 years | +0.6% |
| 1932 | 65.6 years | +0.4% |
| 1933 | 65.43 years | -0.3% |
| 1934 | 64.79 years | -1.0% |
| 1935 | 65.05 years | +0.4% |
| 1936 | 65.19 years | +0.2% |
| 1937 | 65.74 years | +0.8% |
| 1938 | 65.76 years | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 65.73 years | -0.0% |
| 1940 | 66.16 years | +0.7% |
| 1941 | 66.04 years | -0.2% |
| 1942 | 65.79 years | -0.4% |
| 1943 | 66.33 years | +0.8% |
| 1944 | 67.96 years | +2.5% |
| 1945 | 68.38 years | +0.6% |
| 1946 | 67.92 years | -0.7% |
| 1947 | 68.52 years | +0.9% |
| 1948 | 68.47 years | -0.1% |
| 1949 | 69.09 years | +0.9% |
| 1950 | 69 years | -0.1% |
| 1951 | 68.7 years | -0.4% |
| 1952 | 69.11 years | +0.6% |
| 1953 | 69.69 years | +0.8% |
| 1954 | 69.86 years | +0.2% |
| 1955 | 70.16 years | +0.4% |
| 1956 | 70.04 years | -0.2% |
| 1957 | 70.32 years | +0.4% |
| 1958 | 70.86 years | +0.8% |
| 1959 | 70.44 years | -0.6% |
| 1960 | 70.87 years | +0.6% |
| 1961 | 71.13 years | +0.4% |
| 1962 | 70.91 years | -0.3% |
| 1963 | 70.96 years | +0.1% |
| 1964 | 70.57 years | -0.5% |
| 1965 | 70.8 years | +0.3% |
| 1966 | 70.68 years | -0.2% |
| 1967 | 71.05 years | +0.5% |
| 1968 | 70.68 years | -0.5% |
| 1969 | 71.07 years | +0.6% |
| 1970 | 70.65 years | -0.6% |
| 1971 | 71.45 years | +1.1% |
| 1972 | 71.77 years | +0.4% |
| 1973 | 72.06 years | +0.4% |
| 1974 | 71.85 years | -0.3% |
| 1975 | 72.78 years | +1.3% |
| 1976 | 72.79 years | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 73.47 years | +0.9% |
| 1978 | 73.74 years | +0.4% |
| 1979 | 74.33 years | +0.8% |
| 1980 | 74.57 years | +0.3% |
| 1981 | 74.78 years | +0.3% |
| 1982 | 74.72 years | -0.1% |
| 1983 | 75.44 years | +1.0% |
| 1984 | 75.51 years | +0.1% |
| 1985 | 75.43 years | -0.1% |
| 1986 | 76.07 years | +0.9% |
| 1987 | 76.08 years | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 76.34 years | +0.3% |
| 1989 | 76.2 years | -0.2% |
| 1990 | 77.04 years | +1.1% |
| 1991 | 77.48 years | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 77.47 years | -0.0% |
| 1993 | 78.01 years | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 77.85 years | -0.2% |
| 1995 | 78.26 years | +0.5% |
| 1996 | 78.34 years | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 78.63 years | +0.4% |
| 1998 | 79.02 years | +0.5% |
| 1999 | 79.28 years | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 79.62 years | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 80.01 years | +0.5% |
| 2002 | 80.05 years | +0.1% |
| 2003 | 80.44 years | +0.5% |
| 2004 | 80.73 years | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 81.09 years | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 81.26 years | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 81.23 years | -0.0% |
| 2008 | 81.43 years | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 81.73 years | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 82.01 years | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 82.09 years | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 82.3 years | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 82.55 years | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 82.52 years | -0.0% |
| 2015 | 82.61 years | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 82.8 years | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 82.72 years | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 83.26 years | +0.7% |
| 2019 | 83.24 years | -0.0% |
| 2020 | 83.66 years | +0.5% |
| 2021 | 83.56 years | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 82.77 years | -1.0% |
| 2023 | 83.92 years | +1.4% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 83.92 years is above the median for high income countries, which is 81 years, 1.0× the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Australia's 83.92 years is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 72.85 years, 1.2× the median. (37 countries reporting)
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
More health data for Australia
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -1.83 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.9072 % change on previous year (2090)
- 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)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2021)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 1.45 % 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 0.0279 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 1.35 % 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 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
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.