TOP 10 Countries by Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE) at Birth (2025)
Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth measures the average number of years a newborn can expect to live in full health — after adjusting for time spent with illness, injury or disability. Unlike simple life expectancy, HALE captures quality as well as length of life, making it the World Health Organization's primary composite indicator of population health performance.
The global average HALE in 2021 was approximately 63.7 years — roughly 9–10 years below overall life expectancy, reflecting the burden of non-communicable diseases, injuries and disability in later life. The top-ranked countries exceed that global average by more than 12 years.
All figures are WHO GHE 2024 estimates for 2021, the latest fully comparable release currently available. They reflect the population average for both sexes combined and are rounded to one decimal place. For official country statistics and metadata, consult the WHO Global Health Observatory directly.
Top 10 countries at the frontier of healthy longevity
The leading group shares a common profile: universal health coverage, strong primary and preventive care, low midlife mortality from cardiovascular disease, and favourable social determinants — high income, low poverty, high educational attainment. Small, high-income economies of East Asia and Western Europe dominate the ranking.
Singapore leads globally through near-universal primary care access, consistently low rates of cardiovascular and metabolic disease, and a population-wide emphasis on health literacy. Its 12.5-year advantage over the global HALE average reflects both high life expectancy and comparatively compressed morbidity in later life.
Japan's strong position reflects ultra-low ischemic heart disease mortality, universal health insurance since 1961, and dietary patterns linked to lower metabolic risk. Japan also invests heavily in long-term care infrastructure, which limits severe disability in the oldest age groups.
Spain consistently ranks among Europe's healthiest populations. The Mediterranean diet, an extensive primary care network, and lower midlife cardiovascular mortality rates compared to Northern European peers underpin its third-place position despite significant regional disparities within the country.
Switzerland combines high health expenditure (approximately 11–12% of GDP), robust specialist access and strong chronic disease management programmes. Out-of-pocket costs are above European average, but coverage breadth and care quality are among the highest worldwide.
South Korea's ascent since achieving universal coverage in 1989 is one of the fastest HALE improvements in WHO data. Dense diagnostic infrastructure, high cancer screening rates and rapidly declining smoking prevalence among younger cohorts are key drivers. A rising gap between male and female HALE mirrors trends seen across East Asia.
Iceland achieves its high HALE through one of the smallest male–female gaps in the top 10 (≈2.3 years), reflecting balanced health gains across sexes. A physically active population, low air pollution and strong mental health and social support systems contribute to this outcome.
France's universal health system (Assurance Maladie) delivers high access to specialist care, contributing to relatively low NCD mortality. COVID-19 reduced France's estimated 2021 HALE by roughly 0.5 years compared to 2019, one of the more pronounced impacts among OECD members — in part due to an older population base.
Italy combines Mediterranean dietary patterns with a universal national health service (SSN). Its HALE was negatively affected by COVID-19 in 2020–2021, particularly in the northern regions, reducing the estimated gain relative to the pre-pandemic trajectory. Despite this, Italy remains in the top 10 globally.
Australia's Medicare system and strong preventive care orientation — especially in cardiovascular and cancer screening — support its top-10 rank. A notable caveat is the persistent HALE gap between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, which the national average does not fully reflect.
Norway's high HALE reflects substantial public health investment, strong social safety nets and low rates of poverty-related disease. Its sovereign wealth fund has helped sustain generous health system financing even as population ageing increases demand for long-term care services.
Table 1. Top 10 countries by HALE at birth, 2021 (WHO GHE 2024)
| Rank | Country | HALE — Male (yrs) | HALE — Female (yrs) | HALE — Both sexes (yrs) | vs. Global avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 74.4 | 78.0 | 76.2 | +12.5 |
| 2 | Japan | 72.5 | 75.7 | 74.1 | +10.4 |
| 3 | Spain | 72.0 | 75.5 | 73.8 | +10.1 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 71.8 | 75.5 | 73.7 | +10.0 |
| 5 | Republic of Korea | 71.5 | 74.7 | 73.1 | +9.4 |
| 6 | Iceland | 71.8 | 74.1 | 73.0 | +9.3 |
| 7 | France | 71.3 | 74.4 | 72.9 | +9.2 |
| 8 | Italy | 71.2 | 74.4 | 72.8 | +9.1 |
| 9 | Australia | 71.4 | 74.2 | 72.8 | +9.1 |
| 10 | Norway | 71.3 | 74.1 | 72.7 | +9.0 |
Source: WHO Global Health Estimates 2024 (data year 2021). Global average HALE at birth (both sexes) ≈ 63.7 years. All figures rounded to one decimal place. "vs. Global avg" = HALE minus 63.7.
Chart 1. HALE at birth — Top 10 countries vs. global average (2021)
Blue bars show country HALE levels, while the red line marks the global HALE average (≈ 63.7 years, 2021). Source: WHO Global Health Estimates 2024. Values rounded to one decimal place.
How the top 30 HALE countries are distributed in 2021
Beyond the top 10, the HALE ranking reveals a tightly clustered group of high-income European economies separated by fractions of a year. Countries from 11th to 30th place range from 72.5 to 69.8 years — a gap of only 2.7 years — highlighting how compressed the high-income HALE frontier has become. The United States (rank 29, ≈70.4 years) sits below most of its income peers, largely due to higher midlife mortality from cardiovascular disease, drug overdoses and violence.
The table includes all 30 countries with the highest estimated HALE at birth (both sexes, 2021), plus the approximate change from the 2019 WHO estimate — which captures the net COVID-19 impact in the 2020–2021 period. The "vs. avg" toggle converts HALE into years above the global average (63.7 years), making it easier to benchmark any country against the world norm.
Table 2. Top 30 countries by HALE at birth (both sexes), 2021
Figures are WHO GHE 2024 estimates, rounded to one decimal place. YoY = change vs. 2019 WHO estimate (pre-COVID baseline), rounded to one decimal place. Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
| Rank | Country | Region | HALE both sexes | vs. 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | Asia | 76.2 yrs | +0.1 |
| 2 | Japan | Asia | 74.1 yrs | −0.3 |
| 3 | Spain | Europe | 73.8 yrs | −0.4 |
| 4 | Switzerland | Europe | 73.7 yrs | +0.1 |
| 5 | Republic of Korea | Asia | 73.1 yrs | +0.4 |
| 6 | Iceland | Europe | 73.0 yrs | +0.2 |
| 7 | France | Europe | 72.9 yrs | −0.5 |
| 8 | Italy | Europe | 72.8 yrs | −0.5 |
| 9 | Australia | Oceania | 72.8 yrs | +0.1 |
| 10 | Norway | Europe | 72.7 yrs | 0.0 |
| 11 | Israel | Asia | 72.5 yrs | −0.2 |
| 12 | Sweden | Europe | 72.4 yrs | +0.1 |
| 13 | Netherlands | Europe | 72.2 yrs | 0.0 |
| 14 | Finland | Europe | 72.1 yrs | +0.2 |
| 15 | New Zealand | Oceania | 72.0 yrs | +0.1 |
| 16 | Ireland | Europe | 71.9 yrs | +0.1 |
| 17 | Canada | Americas | 71.8 yrs | −0.2 |
| 18 | Luxembourg | Europe | 71.7 yrs | +0.1 |
| 19 | Austria | Europe | 71.6 yrs | +0.1 |
| 20 | Malta | Europe | 71.5 yrs | +0.2 |
| 21 | United Kingdom | Europe | 71.4 yrs | −0.3 |
| 22 | Germany | Europe | 71.3 yrs | −0.1 |
| 23 | Belgium | Europe | 71.2 yrs | −0.3 |
| 24 | Denmark | Europe | 71.1 yrs | +0.1 |
| 25 | Portugal | Europe | 70.9 yrs | +0.1 |
| 26 | Cyprus | Europe | 70.8 yrs | +0.2 |
| 27 | Greece | Europe | 70.7 yrs | −0.2 |
| 28 | Slovenia | Europe | 70.5 yrs | +0.3 |
| 29 | United States | Americas | 70.4 yrs | −0.6 |
| 30 | Czechia | Europe | 69.8 yrs | +0.3 |
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory — Global Health Estimates 2024 (data year 2021). All values approximate and rounded. "vs. 2019" captures the net change including any COVID-19 impact. Global average HALE ≈ 63.7 yrs. Updated: WHO GHE 2024 release.
Figure 2. HALE vs. life expectancy at birth — selected top-30 countries (2021)
Each point plots a country's healthy life expectancy (horizontal axis) against its overall life expectancy at birth (vertical axis). Countries that sit higher than peers with similar HALE convert healthy years into longer total survival more effectively, while those lower on the chart show a wider gap between total lifespan and years lived in good health.
Life expectancy at birth values from WHO GHE 2024 (data year 2021). HALE axis uses the same data as Table 2. Both axes in years, both sexes combined. Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Methodology: how WHO calculates HALE
Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth is computed by the World Health Organization using a Sullivan method applied to life tables and estimates of years lived with disability (YLDs). The core formula subtracts disability-adjusted time from overall life expectancy: HALE = LE − YLD.
The inputs come from the WHO Global Health Estimates (GHE) programme, which integrates mortality data from civil registration systems, cause-of-death models, disease burden modelling (GBD-aligned) and disability weighting. The 2024 GHE release covers the period 2000–2021 for 183 member states.
Data year and version
All figures in this article use the WHO GHE 2024 release, data year 2021 — the most recent full-year estimates publicly available as of the 2025 publication date. These supersede the 2019-based GHE 2020 release. The 2021 estimates are the first to fully capture the population health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key methodological steps
- Life tables: constructed from all-cause mortality data submitted by countries, supplemented by WHO model life tables where registration is incomplete.
- Years lived with disability (YLDs): estimated from prevalence of 359 diseases and injuries, each assigned a disability weight (0–1) reflecting severity. Data sources include national surveys, hospital registries and published epidemiological studies.
- Sullivan method: for each age interval, the proportion of time spent in full health is calculated. The resulting healthy person-years are summed to produce HALE.
- Both-sexes aggregate: the "both sexes" HALE is a population-weighted average of male and female values, not a simple arithmetic mean.
- PPP / income adjustment: HALE values are not adjusted for income or purchasing power; they reflect health outcomes as estimated from epidemiological data.
Coverage and limitations
Coverage is 183 WHO member states. For countries with weak civil registration, WHO uses modelled estimates, which carry wider uncertainty intervals. The figures presented here are point estimates without formal uncertainty bounds — for analysis requiring confidence intervals, consult the full WHO GHE dataset.
HALE at birth reflects the average across the entire population and can mask significant sub-national, ethnic and socioeconomic gradients. For example, Australia's national HALE average does not capture the approximately 10-year gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. Similarly, US estimates obscure wide state-level and racial/ethnic variation.
Comparisons between the 2019 and 2021 estimates should account for methodological revisions between GHE releases, not only real-world health changes. Differences of less than ±0.3 years should be interpreted with caution.
What the 2021 HALE ranking tells us about global health
1. The healthy-longevity frontier has narrowed
Between 2000 and 2019, the global HALE average rose by approximately 8 years — from around 58 to 66 years. This was driven primarily by gains in Sub-Saharan Africa (HIV/AIDS treatment scale-up, child mortality reduction) and South and East Asia (cardiovascular disease control, universal health coverage expansion). The top-10 countries improved more modestly in absolute terms, roughly 3–5 years over the same period, because they were already operating near the biological maximum feasible under current medical knowledge. The result is a narrowing of the absolute gap between the global average and the frontier.
2. COVID-19 was a selective health shock at the top of the ranking
The 2021 estimates reveal a clear COVID-19 signal in the top 30. Countries such as France, Italy, Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom all show estimated HALE declines of 0.3–0.5 years versus the 2019 baseline, consistent with excess mortality and increased disability burden in 2020–2021. By contrast, Singapore, Switzerland, Korea, Iceland and several Scandinavian economies recorded flat or marginally positive changes — reflecting better containment, younger or healthier at-risk populations, or more effective healthcare responses.
The United States stands out with the largest estimated HALE decline in the top 30 (−0.6 years), driven by excess COVID-19 mortality that was concentrated in older and lower-income groups, as well as increases in drug overdose and homicide mortality during the same period.
3. The male–female HALE gap is universal but varies in size
In every country in the top 30, women have a higher HALE than men. The gap in the top 10 ranges from approximately 2.3 years (Iceland) to 3.6 years (Singapore). This is significantly smaller than the conventional life expectancy gender gap (typically 4–8 years in high-income countries), which means women not only live longer but also spend a slightly larger proportion of their lives in poor health — a pattern known as the "female health–survival paradox."
4. The United States is an outlier among peer economies
With a HALE of approximately 70.4 years, the United States ranks 29th in the top-30 list — below every Western European country and both Australia and Canada. Its overall life expectancy of approximately 77.0 years is also below the OECD average. The gap between the US and comparable peers widened further in 2021. Contributing factors include high rates of cardiovascular disease, obesity, drug overdose mortality and firearm violence, combined with fragmented health insurance coverage that limits preventive care access for lower-income groups.
5. East Asian gains continue to reshape the top 10
South Korea recorded the largest positive change in the top 10 between 2019 and 2021 (+0.4 years). This continues a multi-decade trend driven by near-elimination of tuberculosis, rapid decline in smoking prevalence and one of the world's most intensive cancer screening programmes. Japan and Singapore maintain their dominance, but Korea's trajectory suggests it may challenge the top 3 in the next GHE release cycle.
What this means for you — interpreting HALE in context
HALE is a population average. A country's HALE figure tells you the expected healthy lifespan of a typical newborn given current age-specific health conditions — it does not predict any individual's health trajectory, nor does it account for social class, education, geography or genetics within that country.
For travellers and expatriates: a country's high HALE reflects the quality of its health system and population health environment, not just its doctors' technical competence. Access, cost, language, and administrative efficiency all shape real-world outcomes.
For policy researchers: HALE captures the combined output of public health, clinical services, social protection and environmental conditions. A country can improve HALE through preventive investment (vaccinations, screening, taxation of tobacco and sugar) much faster than through curative care expansion alone.
For investors and businesses: high HALE countries tend to have productive, lower- absenteeism workforces and lower healthcare cost growth relative to GDP. But they also face demographic ageing, which translates into long-term fiscal pressure on pension and care systems.
Triangulate, do not rely solely on HALE. For a complete picture of population health in any country, pair HALE with: cause-specific mortality rates, infant mortality, obesity prevalence, mental health burden, and self-reported health status from nationally representative surveys.
FAQ — HALE explained in plain language
Policy takeaways: improving HALE, not just life expectancy
A country can increase life expectancy through critical care that saves lives — but it can only improve HALE by also reducing the time people spend sick or disabled. This requires a different policy emphasis: prevention over cure, and compression of morbidity over the full life course.
- Universal primary care is the single most consistent predictor of high HALE. Countries with strong, accessible primary care catch chronic conditions early, before they cause permanent functional decline.
- NCD prevention at midlife has the highest HALE return. Cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers cause years of disability before premature death. Policies targeting hypertension, tobacco, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets improve HALE significantly more per dollar spent than late-stage hospital interventions.
- Mental health is an under-counted HALE driver. Depression and anxiety account for a large share of YLDs globally but receive a fraction of health spending relative to their burden. Integrating mental health into primary care is a high-impact, cost-effective intervention.
- Equity gaps compress the national average. The surest way to raise a country's HALE is to close the health gap between its highest- and lowest-income populations — both have high-level healthy lifespans, and they drag the average up more efficiently than marginal gains at the frontier.
- Ageing-in-health, not just ageing-in-place. Long-term care systems must be designed to preserve function, not merely manage decline. Rehabilitation, social engagement, and multimorbidity management in older adults directly influence HALE in the final decade of life.
For countries currently outside the top 30, the fastest route to HALE improvement lies in completing universal health coverage, reducing under-five mortality, controlling infectious disease burden, and building road-safety and injury-prevention systems — all of which contribute large YLD reductions at relatively low cost.
Primary data sources and technical notes
All figures and rankings in this article draw on the official WHO Global Health Estimates programme and related international databases. Values are rounded to one decimal place for readability. For formal statistical or policy work, download the original datasets from the sources below.
Primary source for all HALE and life expectancy figures. GHE 2024 covers 183 member states, years 2000–2021, providing estimates for HALE at birth (both sexes, male, female), life expectancy, YLDs, YLLs and DALYs. The data year used in this article is 2021.
https://www.who.int/data/global-health-estimatesThe WHO GHO provides country-level HALE time series with metadata, uncertainty ranges and downloadable CSV/Excel files. Indicator: "Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth (years)."
https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/gho-ghe-hale-healthy-life-expectancy-at-birthAnnual WHO report monitoring health for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Includes global and regional HALE aggregates and trend data. The 2024 edition incorporates GHE 2024 figures.
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240094703Secondary cross-check and visualization layer built from WHO GHO HALE estimates (2000–2021). Used here for long-run trend verification and comparative context.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/healthy-life-expectancy-at-birthBackground data on conventional life expectancy at birth used in Figure 2 (scatter chart) and for computing the HALE-to-LE gap discussed in the analysis.
https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancyWHO thematic page for GHE life expectancy and HALE series with regional summaries, methods documentation and country profiles.
https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/ghe-life-expectancy-and-healthy-life-expectancyAll numerical values are approximate and rounded for readability. For precise official country figures and uncertainty intervals, always consult the original WHO GHE 2024 database. This article reflects data available as of the WHO GHE 2024 release.
