Global life expectancy nears pre-pandemic level, but healthy years lag behind: WHO

Global life expectancy has nearly returned to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic level, but healthy life expectancy continues to lag behind, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) latest estimates released Friday.

Global life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, close to the 73.4 years seen in 2019, a year before the pandemic hit, WHO's Global Health Estimates showed.

Healthy life expectancy recovered more slowly, reaching 62.8 years in 2023, still 0.4 years below its 2019 level, said the UN agency.

"Living longer is one of the great achievements of public health," said Alain Labrique, the director of WHO's Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI. "The next challenge is to ensure that those additional years are lived in good health."

The WHO also reported a growing mental health burden. Between 2019 and 2023, the global age-standardized rate of healthy life lost climbed about 20% for depressive disorders and nearly 45% for anxiety disorders.

Together, depression and anxiety accounted for an estimated 110 million years of healthy life lost through premature death and disability in 2023.

Drug use disorders also showed diverging regional trends between 2000 and 2023, with the Americas seeing the largest increases in the risk of mortality and healthy life loss, while the Western Pacific saw substantial declines.

Meanwhile, noncommunicable diseases accounted for 74% of deaths globally in 2023, up from 58% in 2000.

Dementia became the fifth-leading cause of death globally in 2023, up from 19th in 2000, with deaths tripling over the period.