How Australia compares

Australia compares very well with other nations for life expectancy, according to United Nations estimates.

For males, Australia has the joint fourth-highest life expectancy in the world (along with Switzerland) over the period 2005-10. Only Iceland, Japan and Hong Kong have higher male life expectancy than Australia.

Australia also has the joint third-highest female life expectancy. As in most countries, female life expectancy is higher than male life expectancy in Australia. However, in countries badly affected by HIV/AIDS (including Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe), males have similar or higher life expectancy than women.

It should be noted that these are estimates to facilitate international comparison, and should be used with caution as they are based on mortality rates for different years.

Life expectancy estimates (years) for selected countries, by sex, 2005-2010

Top 15
Country	Male	Country	Female
Iceland	80	Japan	86
Japan	79	Hong Kong SAR	85
Hong Kong SAR	79	Australia	84
Australia	79	Switzerland	84
Switzerland	79	Spain	84
Sweden	79	France	84
Israel	79	San Marino	84
Macao SAR	79	Iceland	83
Spain	78	Israel	83
Canada	78	Macao SAR	83
Norway	78	Sweden	83
Italy	78	Canada	83
New Zealand	78	Italy	83
Singapore	78	Norway	83
Netherlands	78	Austria	83

Bottom 15
Country	Male	Country	Female
Somalia	47	Malawi	48
Nigeria	46	DR Congo	48
DR Congo	45	Guinea-Bissau	48
Rwanda	45	Rwanda	48
Guinea-Bissau	45	Nigeria	47
Liberia	45	Liberia	47
Afghanistan	44	Central African Republic	46
Zimbabwe	44	Afghanistan	44
Central African Republic	43	Angola	44
Lesotho	43	Sierra Leone	44
Zambia	42	Zimbabwe	43
Mozambique	42	Lesotho	42
Angola	41	Mozambique	42
Sierra Leone	41	Zambia	42
Swaziland	40	Swaziland	39

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2007),World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision.