Official resident life expectancy
79.0China government / National Health Commission ↗
years · official 2024 release
Population · health outcomes
Life expectancy and health in China
China’s official release and the World Bank’s internationally comparable estimate are shown separately. The official figure is the latest domestic headline; WDI is used for long-run and cross-country comparison.
WDI comparable estimate
78.017
years · 2024
Female–male gap
5.717
years · WDI 2024
Infant mortality
4.1
per 1,000 live births · WDI 2024
The 79.0-year figure is China’s official 2024 resident-life-expectancy headline. The 78.017-year figure is the WDI internationally comparable estimate. Their sources, estimation systems and publication precision differ, so this page does not connect them into one series.
Long-run trend
Total, female and male life expectancy, 1960–2024
All three lines come from the same WDI vintage. Female life expectancy remained above male life expectancy; the 2024 gap was 5.717 years.
Source: World Bank WDI ↗ · World Bank WDI internationally comparable estimates; not spliced to the official 79-year headlinechinainfigures.com
International comparison, 2024
China’s WDI estimate was above the world, India and Viet Nam
Every economy uses the same WDI 2024 definition. China was at 78.017 years, below the United States, Germany, Korea and Japan.
Source: World Bank WDI ↗ · Same WDI vintage and 2024 reference year; World is the WLD aggregatechinainfigures.com
Health outcome
Infant mortality fell from 88.8‰ in 1969 to 4.1‰ in 2024
Infant mortality is deaths before age one per 1,000 live births. It is not a percentage and not the under-five mortality rate.
Source: World Bank WDI ↗ · Deaths before age one per 1,000 live births; WDI estimatechinainfigures.com
Accessible data table
International comparison for 2024
| Economy | Total (years) | Female | Male | Gap | Infant mortality (‰) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 84.036 | 87.130 | 81.090 | 6.040 | 1.8 |
| Korea, Rep. | 83.629 | 86.600 | 80.800 | 5.800 | 2.3 |
| Germany | 80.793 | 83.200 | 78.500 | 4.700 | 3.1 |
| United States | 78.890 | 81.400 | 76.500 | 4.900 | 5.5 |
| China | 78.017 | 80.966 | 75.249 | 5.717 | 4.1 |
| Viet Nam | 74.736 | 79.382 | 70.051 | 9.331 | 12.0 |
| World | 73.482 | 75.973 | 71.116 | 4.857 | 27.7 |
| India | 72.235 | 73.856 | 70.729 | 3.127 | 23.3 |
Long-run milestones
Eight reference years in China’s WDI series
| Year | Total (years) | Female | Male | Infant mortality (‰) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 33.419 | 34.858 | 32.166 | — |
| 1970 | 56.824 | 58.779 | 54.941 | 84.6 |
| 1980 | 64.243 | 66.508 | 62.051 | 48.8 |
| 1990 | 68.155 | 70.561 | 65.861 | 43.3 |
| 2000 | 72.288 | 74.895 | 69.850 | 29.9 |
| 2010 | 75.668 | 78.329 | 73.191 | 12.4 |
| 2020 | 78.019 | 80.999 | 75.245 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 78.017 | 80.966 | 75.249 | 4.1 |
Period measure
Life expectancy is not a personal forecast
Life expectancy at birth assumes current age-specific mortality rates continue. It describes a period mortality pattern, not how long a particular newborn will live.
Not healthy life expectancy
Longer life is not the same as healthy life expectancy
This page reports total years of life and does not subtract years lived with illness or disability. Healthy life expectancy is a different measure.
Source boundary
Official China and WDI remain separate
The 79-year figure is the official China headline; WDI is used for long-run and international comparison. A difference does not mean one is “wrong”.
Downloads and revisions
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Page data
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Includes registered formal points, available historical series and scalar derived metrics. UTF-8 encoded for spreadsheets and analysis tools.
Download CSV ↓Data file updated: 26 Jul 2026
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Public record
Revision and update timeline
Life expectancy and health indicator added
Added the official 2024 China resident-life-expectancy headline and archived WDI 1960–2024 total/female/male life expectancy, infant mortality and international comparison.
Related sources: The State Council of the People’s Republic of China / National Health Commission ↗ · World Bank ↗
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed
Data downloads and revision timeline added
Added page-level formal-data CSV files, chart-level CSV/PNG/SVG exports and a bilingual revision timeline to all indicator pages.
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed