World Bank · Annual
World Development Indicators · Life expectancy
Years a newborn would be expected to live if the age-specific mortality rates in the observation year continued throughout life.
Available series
National annual observations with source notes and missing values preserved.
What the data measures
Years a newborn would be expected to live if the age-specific mortality rates in the observation year continued throughout life.
WDI publishes period life expectancy from UN population data and national demographic sources, derived from life tables and age-specific mortality rates.
Coverage & limitations
United States and Canada · 2000–2025 (available years vary by series)
- This summarizes mortality conditions in a year; it does not predict how long a particular baby will live.
- It is a period life-table measure, rather than a measure of a completed birth cohort.
- Some underlying demographic estimates are interpolated and may not capture each annual event precisely.
- Missing years remain missing; the site does not extrapolate future life expectancy.
Field dictionary
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| period | Annual observation year; separate from acquisition date |
| value | years at birth; missing and suppressed values remain null |
| status | Present, missing or suppressed; a zero is a present value |
| revision_id | Stable identity for this sourced observation revision |
| source_note | Footnotes supplied by the publisher, including preliminary estimates |
| release_id | The exact immutable public snapshot |