Maybe Money Can't Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Longevity...
How long you live depends a lot on where you’re born...
Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao illustrates this phenomenon in the above map, which uses 2025 life expectancy at birth projections from the UN World Population Prospects published last year.
Life expectancy at birth measures the average number of years that a newborn could expect to live, if they were subject to the age-specific mortality rates of a given period.

Ranked: Countries Where People Live the Longest
The micronation of Monaco has the highest average life expectancy in the world. A baby born in the country in 2025 can expect to live to 87 years old.
Rank | Country | ISO Code | Average life expectancy at birth, 2025 (in years) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Monaco | MCO | 87 |
2 | San Marino | SMR | 86 |
3 | Hong Kong | HKG | 86 |
4 | Japan | JPN | 85 |
5 | South Korea | KOR | 85 |
6 | Saint Barthélemy | BLM | 85 |
7 | Andorra | AND | 84 |
8 | French Polynesia | PYF | 84 |
9 | Switzerland | CHE | 84 |
10 | Australia | AUS | 84 |
11 | Italy | ITA | 84 |
12 | Singapore | SGP | 84 |
13 | Spain | ESP | 84 |
14 | Liechtenstein | LIE | 84 |
15 | Réunion | REU | 84 |
16 | Gibraltar | GIB | 84 |
17 | Malta | MLT | 84 |
18 | Norway | NOR | 84 |
19 | France | FRA | 84 |
20 | Sweden | SWE | 84 |
21 | Guernsey | GGY | 84 |
22 | Macao | MAC | 83 |
23 | Holy See | VAT | 83 |
24 | UAE | ARE | 83 |
25 | Iceland | ISL | 83 |
26 | Martinique | MTQ | 83 |
27 | Canada | CAN | 83 |
28 | Israel | ISR | 83 |
29 | Ireland | IRL | 83 |
30 | Portugal | PRT | 83 |
31 | Qatar | QAT | 83 |
32 | Bermuda | BMU | 83 |
33 | Luxembourg | LUX | 82 |
34 | Netherlands | NLD | 82 |
35 | Belgium | BEL | 82 |
36 | Guadeloupe | GLP | 82 |
37 | New Zealand | NZL | 82 |
38 | Austria | AUT | 82 |
39 | Denmark | DNK | 82 |
40 | Finland | FIN | 82 |
41 | Greece | GRC | 82 |
42 | Puerto Rico | PRI | 82 |
43 | Cyprus | CYP | 82 |
44 | Slovenia | SVN | 82 |
45 | Germany | DEU | 82 |
46 | UK | GBR | 82 |
47 | Bahrain | BHR | 82 |
48 | Chile | CHL | 82 |
49 | Maldives | MDV | 82 |
50 | Isle of Man | IMN | 81 |
51 | Costa Rica | CRI | 81 |
52 | Taiwan | TWN | 81 |
53 | Kuwait | KWT | 81 |
54 | Cayman Islands | CYM | 81 |
55 | Saint Martin | MAF | 81 |
56 | Faroe Islands | FRO | 81 |
57 | Oman | OMN | 80 |
58 | Czechia | CZE | 80 |
59 | Jersey | JEY | 80 |
60 | Panama | PAN | 80 |
61 | Albania | ALB | 80 |
62 | Anguilla | AIA | 80 |
63 | U.S. | USA | 80 |
64 | Falkland Islands | FLK | 80 |
65 | Estonia | EST | 79 |
66 | Saudi Arabia | SAU | 79 |
67 | Northern Mariana Islands | MNP | 79 |
68 | New Caledonia | NCL | 79 |
69 | Poland | POL | 79 |
70 | Croatia | HRV | 79 |
71 | Wallis & Futuna Islands | WLF | 79 |
72 | Slovakia | SVK | 79 |
73 | Uruguay | URY | 78 |
74 | Cuba | CUB | 78 |
75 | Kosovo | XKX | 78 |
76 | China | CHN | 78 |
77 | Turks & Caicos Islands | TCA | 78 |
78 | Bosnia & Herzegovina | BIH | 78 |
79 | Jordan | JOR | 78 |
80 | Peru | PER | 78 |
81 | Colombia | COL | 78 |
82 | Lebanon | LBN | 78 |
83 | Iran | IRN | 78 |
84 | Antigua and Barbuda | ATG | 78 |
85 | Sri Lanka | LKA | 78 |
86 | Türkiye | TUR | 78 |
87 | Bonaire | BES | 78 |
88 | Ecuador | ECU | 78 |
89 | Argentina | ARG | 78 |
90 | North Macedonia | MKD | 78 |
91 | Guam | GUM | 78 |
92 | British Virgin Islands | VGB | 78 |
93 | Polynesia (no emoji available) | POL | 78 |
94 | Montenegro | MNE | 77 |
95 | French Guiana | GUF | 77 |
96 | Hungary | HUN | 77 |
97 | Tokelau | TKL | 77 |
98 | Curaçao | CUW | 77 |
99 | Serbia | SRB | 77 |
100 | Saint Helena | SHN | 77 |
101 | Saint Pierre & Miquelon | SPM | 77 |
102 | Malaysia | MYS | 77 |
103 | Tunisia | TUN | 77 |
104 | Thailand | THA | 77 |
105 | Sint Maarten | SXM | 77 |
106 | Algeria | DZA | 77 |
107 | Aruba | ABW | 77 |
108 | Barbados | BRB | 76 |
109 | Montserrat | MSR | 76 |
110 | Latvia | LVA | 76 |
111 | Mayotte | MYT | 76 |
112 | Cabo Verde | CPV | 76 |
113 | Lithuania | LTU | 76 |
114 | Romania | ROU | 76 |
115 | Brazil | BRA | 76 |
116 | Armenia | ARM | 76 |
117 | Bulgaria | BGR | 76 |
118 | U.S. Virgin Islands | VIR | 76 |
119 | Morocco | MAR | 76 |
120 | Brunei Darussalam | BRN | 76 |
121 | Cook Islands | COK | 76 |
122 | Grenada | GRD | 76 |
123 | Mexico | MEX | 75 |
124 | Mauritius | MUS | 75 |
125 | Nicaragua | NIC | 75 |
126 | Bangladesh | BGD | 75 |
127 | Viet Nam | VNM | 75 |
128 | Ukraine | UKR | 75 |
129 | Bahamas | BHS | 75 |
130 | Georgia | GEO | 75 |
131 | Belarus | BLR | 75 |
132 | Azerbaijan | AZE | 75 |
133 | Kazakhstan | KAZ | 75 |
134 | Paraguay | PRY | 74 |
135 | Dominican Republic | DOM | 74 |
136 | Belize | BLZ | 74 |
137 | Suriname | SUR | 74 |
138 | North Korea | PRK | 74 |
139 | Trinidad & Tobago | TTO | 74 |
140 | Bhutan | BTN | 74 |
141 | Russia | RUS | 74 |
142 | Tonga | TON | 73 |
143 | Honduras | HND | 73 |
144 | Libya | LBY | 73 |
145 | Seychelles | SYC | 73 |
146 | American Samoa | ASM | 73 |
147 | Palestine | PSE | 73 |
148 | Saint Lucia | LCA | 73 |
149 | Syria | SYR | 73 |
150 | Guatemala | GTM | 73 |
151 | Venezuela | VEN | 73 |
152 | Uzbekistan | UZB | 73 |
153 | Iraq | IRQ | 73 |
154 | El Salvador | SLV | 73 |
155 | India | IND | 72 |
156 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | KNA | 72 |
157 | Mongolia | MNG | 72 |
158 | Tajikistan | TJK | 72 |
159 | Egypt | EGY | 72 |
160 | Kyrgyzstan | KGZ | 72 |
161 | Samoa | WSM | 72 |
162 | Vanuatu | VUT | 72 |
163 | Western Sahara | ESH | 72 |
164 | Jamaica | JAM | 72 |
165 | Saint Vincent & the Grenadines | VCT | 72 |
166 | Moldova | MDA | 71 |
167 | Dominica | DMA | 71 |
168 | Indonesia | IDN | 71 |
169 | Cambodia | KHM | 71 |
170 | Nepal | NPL | 71 |
171 | Solomon Islands | SLB | 71 |
172 | Guyana | GUY | 70 |
173 | Turkmenistan | TKM | 70 |
174 | Greenland | GRL | 70 |
175 | Niue | NIU | 70 |
176 | Sao Tome and Principe | STP | 70 |
177 | Philippines | PHL | 70 |
178 | Yemen | YEM | 70 |
179 | Palau | PLW | 69 |
180 | Laos | LAO | 69 |
181 | Botswana | BWA | 69 |
182 | Senegal | SEN | 69 |
183 | Eritrea | ERI | 69 |
184 | Mauritania | MRT | 69 |
185 | Bolivia | BOL | 69 |
186 | Uganda | UGA | 69 |
187 | Gabon | GAB | 69 |
188 | Rwanda | RWA | 68 |
189 | Timor-Leste | TLS | 68 |
190 | Pakistan | PAK | 68 |
191 | Ethiopia | ETH | 68 |
192 | Malawi | MWI | 68 |
193 | Namibia | NAM | 68 |
194 | Fiji | FJI | 68 |
195 | Micronesia | FSM | 68 |
196 | Tanzania | TZA | 67 |
197 | Tuvalu | TUV | 67 |
198 | Myanmar | MMR | 67 |
199 | Comoros | COM | 67 |
200 | Marshall Islands | MHL | 67 |
201 | Kiribati | KIR | 67 |
202 | Sudan | SDN | 67 |
203 | Zambia | ZMB | 67 |
204 | Afghanistan | AFG | 67 |
205 | South Africa | ZAF | 66 |
206 | Djibouti | DJI | 66 |
207 | Papua New Guinea | PNG | 66 |
208 | Gambia | GMB | 66 |
209 | Congo | COG | 66 |
210 | Ghana | GHA | 66 |
211 | Haiti | HTI | 65 |
212 | Angola | AGO | 65 |
213 | Guinea-Bissau | GNB | 64 |
214 | Eswatini | SWZ | 64 |
215 | Cameroon | CMR | 64 |
216 | Equatorial Guinea | GNQ | 64 |
217 | Madagascar | MDG | 64 |
218 | Kenya | KEN | 64 |
219 | Burundi | BDI | 64 |
220 | Mozambique | MOZ | 64 |
221 | Zimbabwe | ZWE | 63 |
222 | Togo | TGO | 63 |
223 | Liberia | LBR | 62 |
224 | Nauru | NRU | 62 |
225 | Côte d'Ivoire | CIV | 62 |
226 | DRC | COD | 62 |
227 | Sierra Leone | SLE | 62 |
228 | Niger | NER | 62 |
229 | Burkina Faso | BFA | 61 |
230 | Benin | BEN | 61 |
231 | Guinea | GIN | 61 |
232 | Mali | MLI | 61 |
233 | Somalia | SOM | 59 |
234 | Lesotho | LSO | 58 |
235 | Central African Republic | CAF | 58 |
236 | South Sudan | SSD | 58 |
237 | Chad | TCD | 55 |
238 | Nigeria | NGA | 55 |
Note: Figures rounded.
Most of the top 10 countries are similarly small-sized territories or countries.
However, Japan (#4), South Korea (#5), and Australia (#10) are the three top-10 countries with the highest life expectancies (84+) when accounting for a population of more than 20 million people.
Regionally, Western European countries have the highest life expectancies at birth. Their counterparts in Eastern Europe are a shade lower.
And despite Japan and South Korea’s performance, most Asians have life expectancies between 70–80 years. Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Papua New Guinea are below the 70-year threshold.
However, several African countries have a below-60 life expectancy, a projected lifespan that is a full 20 years shorter than Western European residents.
Nigeria has the lowest average life expectancy at birth, at 55 years.
What Life Expectancy Numbers Mean for Individuals
Life expectancies are tricky things to fully comprehend: in that they change throughout a person’s lifespan and are measured for entire cohorts born in a year.
For example, in countries with lower projected expectancies, it doesn’t necessarily mean adults don’t live as long.
A high infant mortality rate for a particular cohort of babies born in a year could reduce the projected lifespan of the entire cohort. However once a baby from that year survives to adulthood, they may very well reach their 70s.
In fact, data shows that the biggest difference between life expectancies of Africa and high-income regions are for those before the age of 5 and after 60.
This is because both babies and older adults have a need for specific medical infrastructure which many Africans don’t have access to.
There is a strong correlation between wealth and longer lifespans. Check out Countries with the Highest GDP per Capita in 2024 to see similarities.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 05/25/2025 - 19:15
The post <a href=https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/maybe-money-cant-buy-happiness-it-can-buy-longevity target=_blank >Maybe Money Can't Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Longevity...</a> appeared first on Conservative Angle | Conservative Angle - Conservative News Clearing House
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