Countries With the Fastest Growth in Life expectancy (5-Year Change)

Name: Countries With the Fastest Growth in Life expectancy (5-Year Change)
Creator: The World Bank
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Change in Life expectancy over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that rose are listed. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

Central African Republic rose the most: by 26.1, from 31.5 years to 57.7 years in the five years to 2024. Eswatini is second (+4.41), followed by Namibia (+3.97). 196 countries rose over that period; the median change among them was +0.88.

#1: Central African Republic · +26.1
Median: +0.88
Coverage: 196 countries
Data year: 2024
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: 5-year change (years). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Central African Republic 26.1; 2. Eswatini 4.41; 3. Namibia 3.97; 4. Zambia 3.61; 5. Afghanistan 3.35; 6. Bahamas, The 3.3; 7. Yemen, Rep. 2.87; 8. Congo, Rep. 2.85; 9. Kuwait 2.61; 10. Malawi 2.57.

Full ranking

Countries With the Fastest Growth in Life expectancy (5-Year Change), 2024
Rank	Country	From	To	5-year change (years)
1	Central African Republic	31.5	57.7	+26.1
2	Eswatini	59.9	64.3	+4.41
3	Namibia	63.5	67.5	+3.97
4	Zambia	62.9	66.5	+3.61
5	Afghanistan	62.9	66.3	+3.35
6	Bahamas, The	71.4	74.7	+3.3
7	Yemen, Rep.	66.6	69.4	+2.87
8	Congo, Rep.	63.2	66	+2.85
9	Kuwait	82	84.6	+2.61
10	Malawi	65	67.6	+2.57
11	Lesotho	55.2	57.8	+2.55
12	Mozambique	61.3	63.8	+2.49
13	Sierra Leone	59.6	62	+2.37
14	Bangladesh	72.6	74.9	+2.31
15	Cameroon	61.7	64	+2.27
16	Seychelles	74	76.3	+2.25
17	Chad	53	55.2	+2.24
18	Uganda	66.4	68.5	+2.13
19	Botswana	67.2	69.3	+2.13
20	Armenia	76.2	78.3	+2.1
21	Guinea-Bissau	62.2	64.3	+2.09
22	Zimbabwe	61.1	63.1	+2
23	Suriname	71.8	73.8	+1.98
24	Togo	61.1	62.9	+1.87
25	Ethiopia	65.7	67.6	+1.86
26	São Tomé and Principe	68	69.9	+1.86
27	Côte d'Ivoire	60.3	62.1	+1.84
28	Congo, Dem. Rep.	60.2	62.1	+1.83
29	Djibouti	64.4	66.2	+1.82
30	Angola	63.1	64.8	+1.75
31	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	57.2	59	+1.72
32	Peru	76.3	77.9	+1.67
33	New Caledonia	77.3	78.9	+1.66
34	Burundi	62.2	63.8	+1.64
35	Gambia, The	64.4	66.1	+1.63
36	Nigeria	53	54.6	+1.63
37	Equatorial Guinea	62.3	63.9	+1.61
38	Syrian Arab Republic	71	72.6	+1.59
39	Eritrea	67.3	68.9	+1.59
40	Maldives	79.7	81.3	+1.58
41	Samoa	70.3	71.8	+1.56
42	Guinea	59.4	60.9	+1.53
43	India	70.7	72.2	+1.49
44	Cayman Islands	79.1	80.5	+1.49
45	Mali	59.2	60.7	+1.46
46	Timor-Leste	66.5	67.9	+1.41
47	Niger	60	61.4	+1.4
48	Comoros	65.7	67	+1.36
49	Mongolia	71.1	72.4	+1.34
50	Nepal	69.3	70.6	+1.34
51	Nicaragua	73.8	75.1	+1.34
52	Rwanda	66.7	68	+1.33
53	Lao PDR	67.9	69.2	+1.31
54	Azerbaijan	73.3	74.6	+1.29
55	Panama	78.5	79.8	+1.26
56	Bhutan	72	73.3	+1.26
57	Senegal	67.7	68.9	+1.26
58	Guyana	69.1	70.3	+1.25
59	Morocco	74.2	75.5	+1.25
60	Ghana	64.5	65.7	+1.24
61	Bermuda	81.3	82.5	+1.24
62	Montenegro	76.7	77.9	+1.21
63	Tanzania	66	67.2	+1.2
64	Iraq	71.2	72.4	+1.18
65	Gabon	67.3	68.5	+1.17
66	Belize	72.6	73.7	+1.16
67	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	66.2	67.4	+1.16
68	Moldova	70.2	71.3	+1.15
69	Tuvalu	66.1	67.3	+1.15
70	Colombia	76.8	77.9	+1.12
71	Jordan	76.9	78	+1.12
72	Tunisia	75.6	76.7	+1.11
73	Burkina Faso	60.2	61.3	+1.11
74	Guatemala	71.6	72.7	+1.11
75	Northern Mariana Islands	77.8	78.9	+1.1
76	Virgin Islands (US)	79.7	80.8	+1.1
77	Liberia	61.2	62.3	+1.09
78	Benin	59.9	61	+1.07
79	Mauritania	67.6	68.7	+1.07
80	Pakistan	66.7	67.8	+1.07
81	Latvia	75.4	76.4	+1.04
82	Chile	80.3	81.4	+1.03
83	Marshall Islands	66	67.1	+1.03
84	Iran, Islamic Rep.	76.9	77.9	+0.999
85	French Polynesia	83.2	84.2	+0.997
86	Sri Lanka	76.7	77.7	+0.974
87	Kosovo	77.2	78.2	+0.973
88	Tajikistan	71	71.9	+0.965
89	Sweden	83.1	84.1	+0.953
90	Bahrain	80.5	81.4	+0.952
91	Indonesia	70.3	71.3	+0.939
92	Papua New Guinea	65.3	66.3	+0.925
93	Malaysia	75.9	76.8	+0.921
94	Honduras	72.1	73	+0.92
95	Bolivia	67.8	68.7	+0.919
96	Lithuania	76.3	77.2	+0.912
97	Kenya	62.9	63.8	+0.895
98	Naoero	61.4	62.3	+0.886
99	Kazakhstan	73.7	74.5	+0.873
100	Vanuatu	70.8	71.7	+0.871

Showing the top 100 of 196. Premium downloads the full list as CSV or JSON.

About the top 10

#1 Central African Republic

Central African Republic ranks #1 on this list with +26.1.

Capital: Bangui
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 5.51 million people (2025)
GDP: US$3.07 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$556.1 (2025)
Life expectancy: 57.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 44.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in population ages 0-14 share · #1 in age dependency ratio · #1 in age dependency ratio (young).

Full country profile

#2 Eswatini

Eswatini ranks #2 on this list with +4.41.

Capital: Mbabane, Lobamba
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 1.26 million people (2025)
GDP: US$5.16 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$4,108 (2025)
Life expectancy: 64.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 26.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in unemployment rate · #1 in hiv prevalence · #3 in youth unemployment rate.

Full country profile

#3 Namibia

Namibia ranks #3 on this list with +3.97.

Capital: Windhoek
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 3.09 million people (2025)
GDP: US$15.08 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$4,876 (2025)
Life expectancy: 67.5 years (2024)
Urban population: 50.9% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in women in ministerial positions share · #2 in tax revenue share of gdp · #4 in education expenditure share of gdp.

Full country profile

#4 Zambia

Zambia ranks #4 on this list with +3.61.

Capital: Lusaka
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 21.91 million people (2025)
GDP: US$28.88 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$1,318 (2025)
Life expectancy: 66.5 years (2024)
Urban population: 45.9% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Lusaka.

Also ranks #2 in mineral rents share of gdp · #3 in gini index · #4 in prevalence of undernourishment.

Full country profile

#5 Afghanistan

Afghanistan ranks #5 on this list with +3.35.

Capital: Kabul
Continent: Asia
Income group: Low income
Population: 43.84 million people (2025)
GDP: US$17.78 billion (2024)
GDP per person: US$416.9 (2024)
Life expectancy: 66.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 25.9% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Kabul.

Also ranks #1 in refugee population by origin · #4 in health expenditure share of gdp · #6 in agriculture value added share of gdp.

Full country profile

#6 Bahamas, The

Bahamas, The ranks #6 on this list with +3.3.

Capital: Nassau
Continent: North America
Income group: High income
Population: 403,030 people (2025)
GDP: US$15.83 billion (2024)
GDP per person: US$39,455 (2024)
Life expectancy: 74.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 81.3% of population (2025)

Also ranks #6 in access to clean cooking fuels · #10 in homicide rate · #10 in cereal yield.

Full country profile

#7 Yemen, Rep.

Yemen, Rep. ranks #7 on this list with +2.87.

Capital: Sanaa, Aden
Continent: Asia
Income group: Low income
Population: 41.77 million people (2025)
Life expectancy: 69.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 37% of population (2025)
International tourist arrivals: 398,000 arrivals (2015)
CO2 emissions per person: 0.261 t CO2e per person (2024)

Largest cities: Sanaa, Aden.

Also ranks #2 in prevalence of stunting (under-5) · #2 in prevalence of wasting (under-5) · #12 in unemployment rate.

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#8 Congo, Rep.

Congo, Rep. ranks #8 on this list with +2.85.

Capital: Brazzaville
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 6.48 million people (2025)
GDP: US$16.31 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,515 (2025)
Life expectancy: 66 years (2024)
Urban population: 64.1% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire.

Also ranks #3 in oil rents share of gdp · #4 in natural resource rents share of gdp · #7 in unemployment rate.

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#9 Kuwait

Kuwait ranks #9 on this list with +2.61.

Capital: Kuwait City
Continent: Asia
Income group: High income
Population: 4.87 million people (2025)
GDP: US$157.21 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$32,312 (2025)
Life expectancy: 84.6 years (2024)
Urban population: 100% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Kuwait City.

Also ranks #1 in fertiliser consumption · #2 in access to sanitation · #3 in population ages 15-64 share.

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#10 Malawi

Malawi ranks #10 on this list with +2.57.

Capital: Lilongwe
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 22.22 million people (2025)
GDP: US$14.92 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$671.5 (2025)
Life expectancy: 67.6 years (2024)
Urban population: 17.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in school enrolment (primary) · #3 in pupil-teacher ratio (primary) · #3 in poverty headcount ratio.

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Profile facts: World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); weather links go to Purr Weather, another ChowChow Labs site.

Source and method

Change in Life expectancy over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that rose are listed.

Source: The World Bank, indicator SP.DYN.LE00.IN. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Life expectancy at birth, total (years): World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN) (via World Development Indicators)

Original data provider, as recorded by the World Bank: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN); Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), note: Derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices.; Demographic Statistics, Eurostat (ESTAT), note: Derived.

Values are shown as published (changes are computed from the published values). Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.

Summary

Full ranking

About the top 10

#1 Central African Republic

#2 Eswatini

#3 Namibia

#4 Zambia

#5 Afghanistan

#6 Bahamas, The

#7 Yemen, Rep.

#8 Congo, Rep.

#9 Kuwait

#10 Malawi

Related rankings

Source and method