Life expectancy nearly back to pre-Covid level, WHO says

Global life expectancy has almost returned to its pre-Covid level, but years lived in good health are recovering more slowly, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The WHO said life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, close to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019 before the pandemic. Global life expectancy fell to 71.5 years in 2021 during the coronavirus crisis.

Healthy life expectancy stood at 62.8 years in 2023, still 0.4 years below the 2019 level, the UN health agency said in its annual Global Health Estimates report.

Of 61 million deaths worldwide in 2023, the 10 leading causes accounted for 33 million, according to the WHO. Noncommunicable diseases made up eight of the 10 leading causes and accounted for 74 percent of global deaths, up from 58 percent in 2000.

The WHO said ischaemic heart disease was the biggest killer in 2023, responsible for 16 percent of deaths, followed by stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Lower respiratory infections were the deadliest communicable disease and ranked fourth overall.

Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia ranked fifth, killing 2.1 million people in 2023. Covid-19 dropped out of the top 10 leading causes of death for the first time since the pandemic began, falling to about 900,000 directly attributable deaths in 2023.