--- title: Global Life Expectancy Increases Despite Rise in Some Diseases description: Life expectancy across the globe has increased by more than six years since 1990 to 71.5 years, according to a new study canonical: https://time.com/3637584/global-life-expectancy/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-18T00:00:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:56:16.089Z article:section: Health og:title: People Now Live 6 Years Longer Than They Used To og:description: Life expectancy is up around the globe, but some diseases kill more than ever. og:url: https://time.com/3637584/global-life-expectancy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: People Now Live 6 Years Longer Than They Used To twitter:description: Life expectancy is up around the globe, but some diseases kill more than ever. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Is Now the Average Life Expectancy Worldwide > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=4eb725a2-eea7-4ef7-babc-b8956d576773&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 18, 2014 12:00 AM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 18, 2014 12:00 AM UTC Life expectancy across the globe has increased by more than six years since 1990 to 71.5 years, according to a new [study](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2961682-2/abstract). “The progress we are seeing against a variety of illnesses and injuries is good, even remarkable, but we can and must do even better,” said lead study author Christopher Murray, a University of Washington professor, in a press release. The study, published Wednesday in the _Lancet_ journal, showed declines in the number of deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease in high-income countries as well as in deaths from diarrhea and neonatal complications elsewhere. Both of these trends contributed to the overall decline. Importantly, medical funding for fighting infectious diseases has grown since 1990 and helped drive the improvement, according to Murray. Still, despite the improvement, the number of deaths from a number of ailments increased. Perhaps most dramatically, deaths from HIV/AIDS joined the list of the top 10 causes of premature death. The number of annual deaths from the ailment rose from 2.07 million in 1990 to 2.63 million in 2013, the equivalent of a 344% increase in years of lost life. The increase in deaths from HIV/AIDS made southern sub-Saharan Africa the only region worldwide to experience a decline in life expectancy. Other ailments that caused an increased loss of life include liver cancer caused by hepatitis C, which soared 125% since 1990, and deaths from disorders related to drug use, which increased by 63%. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3637584/global-life-expectancy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3637584/global-life-expectancy/"},"headline":"This Is Now the Average Life Expectancy Worldwide","datePublished":"2014-12-18T00:00:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:56:16.089Z","description":"Southern sub-Saharan Africa was the only region worldwide to have a decline in life expectancy","url":"https://time.com/3637584/global-life-expectancy/","keywords":["global health","Life Expectancy","Heart Disease","Research","health","diabetes","HIV/AIDS"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/global-health/","name":"global health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3637584/global-life-expectancy/","name":"This Is Now the Average Life Expectancy Worldwide"}}]}] ```