10 Best Countries for Life Expectancy at Birth According to WHO

Being a Canadian call centre, we are always intrigued to see how Canada compares internationally and we’ve explored this in posts like the best country to live, smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the best countries for quality of life, the best countries for business, the top countries for life expectancy, the best country for child well-being, the best countries for higher education, the most popular countries, the least corrupt countries, the countries with the best reputation, the best countries for ease of doing business, the best countries for starting a business, the best country for business, the best country for customer satisfaction, the most gay positive country, the best countries with the most competitive economies, the best countries for entrepreneurship, the most sustainable countries, the best countries to grow old, the best country brand, the best countries for business, the most sustainable countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the countries with the highest minimum wage, the safest countries, the best countries with the highest average salary, the best countries for social progress, the best countries for working women and the best countries for mothers. Today we’ll delve into the best countries for average life expectancy at birth from the World Health Organization (WHO)’s annual World Health Statistics 2014 report, the “definitive source of information on the health of the world’s people.”

WHO has been comparing “health-related data for its 194 Member States,” since 2005. In order to compile this information they use “government birth and death registration systems, hospital records, household surveys, censuses, certified expenditure records and data obtained from research projects.” The 2012 data used for the 2014 World Health Statistics was based on information from 9 indicators that when taken together, provide a comprehensive look at health and health systems: life expectancy and mortality; cause-specific mortality and morbidity; selected infectious diseases; health service coverage; risk factors; health systems; health expenditure; health inequities; and demographic and socioeconomic statistics. Based on this data collection, the best countries for average life expectancy at birth:

• 1) Japan – Average life expectancy at birth: 84
• 2) Andorra – Average life expectancy at birth: 83
• 2) Australia – Average life expectancy at birth: 83
• 2) Italy 83 – Average life expectancy at birth: 83
• 2) San Marino – Average life expectancy at birth: 83
• 2) Switzerland – Average life expectancy at birth: 83
• 7) Canada – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) Cyprus – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) France – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) Iceland – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) Israel – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) Luxembourg – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) New Zealand – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) Norway – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) Spain – Average life expectancy at birth: 82
• 7) Sweden – Average life expectancy at birth: 82

While you can break these numbers down by gender, we used the average life expectancy for both men and women at birth. Overall, the findings showed that we’re all living longer; a significant gain was made in low income countries as life expectancy increased by an average of 9 years.

The World Health Statistics 2014 is a worthy read and this year, “it also includes highlight summaries on the ongoing commitment to end preventable maternal deaths; on the need to act now to combat rising levels of childhood obesity; on recent trends in both life expectancy and premature deaths; and on the crucial role of civil registration and vital statistics systems in national and global advancement.”

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including inbound telephone fundraising, outbound telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery fundraising services, donation processing and receipting and direct mail fundraising services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all our business decisions  and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.