Countries in Africa by life expectancy
Life expectancy at birth: the years a newborn would live if the death rates of the year stayed the same all its life. 54 countries in Africa, highest first. World Bank, 2024
Median country
65.8
half above, half below| # | Country | Years | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tunisia | 76.7 | Northern Africa |
| 2 |  Algeria | 76.5 | Northern Africa |
| 3 |  Seychelles | 76.3 | Eastern Africa |
| 4 |  Cabo Verde | 76.2 | Western Africa |
| 5 |  Morocco | 75.5 | Northern Africa |
| 6 |  Mauritius | 73.8 | Eastern Africa |
| 7 |  Egypt | 71.8 | Northern Africa |
| 8 |  Libya | 71.1 | Northern Africa |
| 9 |  São Tomé and Principe | 69.9 | Middle Africa |
| 10 |  Botswana | 69.3 | Southern Africa |
| =11 |  Eritrea | 68.9 | Eastern Africa |
| =11 |  Senegal | 68.9 | Western Africa |
| 13 |  Mauritania | 68.7 | Western Africa |
| =14 |  Gabon | 68.5 | Middle Africa |
| =14 |  Uganda | 68.5 | Eastern Africa |
| 16 |  Rwanda | 68.0 | Eastern Africa |
| =17 |  Ethiopia | 67.6 | Eastern Africa |
| =17 |  Malawi | 67.6 | Eastern Africa |
| 19 |  Namibia | 67.5 | Southern Africa |
| 20 |  Tanzania | 67.2 | Eastern Africa |
| 21 |  Comoros | 67.0 | Eastern Africa |
| =22 |  Sudan | 66.5 | Northern Africa |
| =22 |  Zambia | 66.5 | Eastern Africa |
| 24 |  South Africa | 66.3 | Southern Africa |
| 25 |  Djibouti | 66.2 | Eastern Africa |
| 26 |  Gambia | 66.1 | Western Africa |
| 27 |  Congo | 66.0 | Middle Africa |
| 28 |  Ghana | 65.7 | Western Africa |
| 29 |  Angola | 64.8 | Middle Africa |
| =30 |  Eswatini | 64.3 | Southern Africa |
| =30 |  Guinea-Bissau | 64.3 | Western Africa |
| 32 |  Cameroon | 64.0 | Middle Africa |
| 33 |  Equatorial Guinea | 63.9 | Middle Africa |
| =34 |  Burundi | 63.8 | Eastern Africa |
| =34 |  Kenya | 63.8 | Eastern Africa |
| =34 |  Madagascar | 63.8 | Eastern Africa |
| =34 |  Mozambique | 63.8 | Eastern Africa |
| 38 |  Zimbabwe | 63.1 | Eastern Africa |
| 39 |  Togo | 62.9 | Western Africa |
| 40 |  Liberia | 62.3 | Western Africa |
| =41 |  Côte d'Ivoire | 62.1 | Western Africa |
| =41 |  DR Congo | 62.1 | Middle Africa |
| 43 |  Sierra Leone | 62.0 | Western Africa |
| 44 |  Niger | 61.4 | Western Africa |
| 45 |  Burkina Faso | 61.3 | Western Africa |
| 46 |  Benin | 61.0 | Western Africa |
| 47 |  Guinea | 60.9 | Western Africa |
| 48 |  Mali | 60.7 | Western Africa |
| 49 |  Somalia | 59.0 | Eastern Africa |
| 50 |  Lesotho | 57.8 | Southern Africa |
| =51 |  Central African Republic | 57.7 | Middle Africa |
| =51 |  South Sudan | 57.7 | Eastern Africa |
| 53 |  Chad | 55.2 | Middle Africa |
| 54 |  Nigeria | 54.6 | Western Africa |
Questions
- Which country in Africa has the highest life expectancy?
- Tunisia has the highest life expectancy in Africa: 76.7 years (2024). Next come Algeria (76.5 years) and the Seychelles (76.3 years).
- Which country in Africa has the lowest life expectancy?
- Nigeria, with 54.6 years (2024).
- What is the typical life expectancy of a country in Africa?
- The median of the 54 countries in Africa is 65.8 years: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.
- Where do the figures come from?
- Life expectancy at birth: the years a newborn would live if the death rates of the year stayed the same all its life. Source: World Bank, 2024. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.
Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures older than five years are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.