Singapore Tops Life Expectancy at 85 but Faces 11.2 Years of Poor Health
Updated
Updated · BBC Science Focus · Jul 27
Singapore Tops Life Expectancy at 85 but Faces 11.2 Years of Poor Health
3 articles · Updated · BBC Science Focus · Jul 27
Summary
Singaporeans are expected to live past 85 on average—the highest among 204 countries—but new Lancet Public Health research says their final 11.2 years are typically spent in ill health.
The study found longevity is rising faster than healthspan: global life expectancy climbed from 64.6 years in 1990 to 73.8 in 2023, while adults now spend about one in seven years in poor health.
Women showed the sharpest mismatch. In Singapore, they live 4.4 years longer than men but spend 21.1 years in poor health versus 10.4 years for men; globally, the gap averages 12.1 years for women and 9.3 for men.
The pattern was nearly universal, with the morbidity gap widening in 203 of 204 countries; the US had the highest average years in poor health at 14, ahead of Australia and Canada.
Five condition groups drove 57.4% of the global gap in 2023, led by musculoskeletal disorders, mental illness, sense-organ diseases, injuries such as falls, and chronic diseases including diabetes and heart disease.