Global life expectancy rebounds to near pre-pandemic levels, WHO reports

Global life expectancy nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels, reaching 73.3 years in 2023, just shy of the 73.4 years recorded in 2019, according to the World Health Organization's latest Global Health Estimates released Friday. The estimates, covering death and disability trends from 2000 to 2023, show healthy life expectancy recovered more slowly at 62.8 years, still below its 2019 level. For the first time, communicable diseases accounted for less than half of all deaths in low-income countries, while noncommunicable diseases caused 74 percent of global deaths. Dementia rose from the 19th to fifth leading cause of death globally since 2000, with deaths tripling. Cardiovascular diseases remain the top killer, causing approximately 9.5 million deaths in 2023.