Global Life Expectancy Has Returned Close To Pre-Covid Levels, Says WHO
As per WHO the cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death and disease burden worldwide.
Published : October 2, 2026 at 9:00 PM IST
Hyderabad: The latest Global Health Estimates released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) have said that people are living longer and global life expectancy has returned to close to pre-pandemic levels.
According to WHO, following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, global life expectancy has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
As per the health estimate the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) account for an increasing share of deaths, with conditions such as diabetes, dementia, mental health conditions and drug use disorders contributing to a growing burden of disease.
The Global Health Estimates present a picture of “how health has changed” across countries and regions between 2000 and 2023 including the trends in life expectancy, causes of death and disease burden.
As per WHO, the global life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023 against 73.4 years recorded in 2019. The healthy life expectancy has reached 62.8 years in 2023, still 0.4 years below its 2019 level.
“At the same time, the long-term shift towards NCDs continues. NCDs accounted for 74% of deaths globally in 2023, compared with 58% in 2000. Eight of the world’s ten leading causes of death were NCDs in 2023,” the WHO said.
A shift in the health scenario has been witnessed across all income levels. In 2023, for the first time, communicable diseases “accounted for less than half of all deaths in low-income countries, marking another step in the global epidemiological transition,” the WHO said. Dr Alain Labrique, Director of WHO’s Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI said that “living longer is one of the great achievements of public health.”
“The next challenge is to ensure that those additional years are lived in good health, while health systems are equipped to respond to the changing needs of populations.”
As per WHO, cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of “death and disease burden worldwide.” The world health body said that in 2023 the ischemic heart disease caused approximately 9.5 million deaths and 210 million “disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), measured in years of healthy life lost.”
“There has been substantial progress in reducing the burden of ischaemic heart disease since 2000 in many parts of the world. However, increases in risk at an individual level were recorded in the WHO Western Pacific and South-East Asia Regions, highlighting persistent inequalities in cardiovascular health between populations,” the WHO said.
As per WHO, the risk of dying from diabetes has risen substantially since 2000, particularly in South-East Asia while Alzheimer disease and other dementias have also risen sharply.
While dementia became the fifth leading cause of death globally in 2023, compared with 19th in 2000, global deaths from dementia tripled over this period.
The health estimate said between 2019 and 2023, the global age-standardized DALY rate increased by approximately 20 percent for depressive disorders and nearly 45 percent for anxiety disorders.
“Together, these conditions accounted for an estimated 110 million years of healthy life loss through premature death and disability in 2023.”
Furthermore, drug use disorders have shown similar trends across regions. Between 2000 and 2023, the WHO Region of the Americas recorded the largest increases in risk of mortality and healthy life loss while the Western Pacific saw substantial declines. “Taken together, the estimates show a global health landscape that is both recovering from the pandemic and continuing to evolve,” the WHO noted.
Dr Labrique said that “value of these estimates is not only in the numbers themselves”. “By showing how causes of death and disease burden are changing over time and across populations, they give countries evidence to help shape health policies and priorities. They also help WHO support countries in building resilient, essential digital and data infrastructure while strengthening national and subnational capacity to analyse health data and generate timely, actionable insights. These capabilities are critical to better enable targeted, effective interventions and ultimately further improving health and well-being for all.”
Also Read
