How long will YOU live? Startling map reveals dramatic differences in life expectancy across the globe (and why you should move to Monaco)
- Monaco has the highest life expectancy in the world at 89.68 years
- Chad has the lowest level of life expectancy at 48.69 years
- America ranks 51st in the table with 78.49 years, while the United Kingdom comes in 30th at 80.17 years
By DAMIEN GAYLE
PUBLISHED: 04:20 EST, 30 November 2012 | UPDATED: 13:08 EST, 30 November 2012
This colour-coded map reveals the startling difference in life expectancies across 222 of the world’s countries.
The map shows how people are likely to live the longest in developed countries with state-funded healthcare systems like Japan, Canada and the UK, which each have average life expectancies of over 80 years.
The tiny tax haven of Monaco – with its notoriously wealthy inhabitants and compulsory state-funded health service – has the highest life expectancy at an average of 89.68 years, five years higher than anywhere else on earth, according to the CIA World Factbook. The country with the worst life expectancy is the African state of Chad at a shocking 48.69 years.
Chad
Monaco
Life expectancy in America ranks 51st in the CIA’s table at 78.49 years – lower than Canada (81.48), Australia (81.90), New Zealand (80.71), Japan (83.91), the UK (80.17) and much of Europe.
How long will you live? This colour coded map shows the life expectancy in 222 of the world’s nations. Nations shaded dark blue are those where people are expected to live to over 80, and they include most of the developed countries which have compulsory state-funded healthcare like the most of the countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Jordan and Japan. With the exception of Afghanistan, the countries with the lowest life expectancies are all in sub-Saharan Africa. Inhabitants of Afghanistan, Swaziland, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau and Chad are not expected to reach 50.
Of the top five longest-living nations the only large country is Japan, with the rest being city states (see box).
Life expectancy levels in South America and generally 10 years lower than those in North America.
People are likely to live the shortest in sub-Saharan Africa, with no country in that vast region having an average life expectancy of over 60.
Only a few Asian countries, including Afghanistan (49.72) and a couple of Caribbean nations, have such similarly short life expectancies compared with Africa.
The worst countries to live in if you want to reach old age are Afghanistan (49.72), Swaziland (49.42), South Africa (49.41) Guinea-Bissau (49.11) and Chad (48.69), whose people are generally expected to die before they even reach middle age.
The map, created by io9.com, shows the average life expectancy for both men and women. The CIA’s individual breakdown confirms that women on average live longer than men. Life expectancy for a woman in Monaco is 93.77 years compared with that of a man at 85.74 years.
In Chad life expectancy for men is only 47.61 years while women are expected to live slightly longer to 49.82 years.
American men live 76.05 years on average while women in the United States live to 81.05 years.
In the United Kingdom the life expectancy of men is 78.05 years while it is 82.4 years for women.
While the United States has consistently fallen in the rank of world nations over the last 50 years, the average life expectancy has risen from 69.8 years in 1960 to 78.49 today.
And while Chad’s figure of 48.69 today is shockingly low, in 1960 Afghanistan had the world’s lowest life expectancy at 31.3 years.
Where do you live? The life expectancy levels are traditionally highest in Europe, Japan and small city states while African nations dominate the bottom end of the table.
World’s apart: Monaco, above left, has the highest life expectancy on earth at 89.68 years while Chad, above right, has the lowest at an average 48.69 years
A TALE OF TWO COUNTRIES: FROM EUROPE’S MEGA-RICH TAX HAVEN TO THE ‘DEAD HEART OF AFRICA’
Monaco, above left, has the world’s highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita as well as the lowest poverty rate. It has a population of 36,000 people and is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The main income comes from tourism and gambling. No one pays taxes in this small Mediterranean country so it has become a haven for the rich and famous, including the likes of Sir Elton John. The country has an excellent standard of compulsory state funded healthcare.
Chad, above right, is one of the world’s poorest countries with 80 per cent of the population living below the poverty line. Located in the centre of North Africa it is sometimes known as the ‘Dead Heart of Africa’. It has a population over 10.3million and the northern third of the country is dominated by the Sahara Desert. Since independence from France in 1960, Chad has suffered from instability and conflict arising from tensions between different religious and ethnic factions, further fuelled by interference from neighboring states. About 80 per cent of the population depend on farming , herding or gathering forest products for livelihood. Frequent droughts and water scarcity make life a daily challenge. As of 2004, it was estimated that there were fewer than three physicians, 15 nurses, and two midwives per 100,000 people.
Now take a look at the interactive version of the life expectancy map
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2240855/How-does-nation-rank-world-map-life-expectancy.html#ixzz2Dp8vADcI
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Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 