Geneva: Global life expectancy has returned close to its pre-pandemic level, while noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) continue to account for a growing share of deaths worldwide, according to the latest Global Health Estimates released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The estimates provide data on changes in health across countries and regions between 2000 and 2023, covering life expectancy, causes of death and disease burden.
WHO’s Global Health Estimates (GHE) provides that global life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, compared with 73.4 years in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthy life expectancy stood at 62.8 years in 2023, 0.4 years below the 2019 level.
The estimates also show a continued shift in the global burden of disease towards NCDs. NCDs accounted for 74 percent of deaths worldwide in 2023, up from 58 percent in 2000. Eight of the 10 leading causes of death globally were NCDs in 2023.
The change has occurred across income groups. In 2023, communicable diseases accounted for less than half of all deaths in low-income countries for the first time, according to WHO, indicating a continuing shift in the pattern of disease and mortality.
“Living longer is one of the great achievements of public health,” said Dr Alain Labrique, Director of WHO’s Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI.
“The next challenge is to ensure that those additional years are lived in good health, while health systems are equipped to respond to the changing needs of populations,” he added.
Cardiovascular diseases remained the leading cause of death and disease burden globally in 2023. Ischaemic heart disease was responsible for approximately 9.5 million deaths and 210 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which measure years of healthy life lost due to premature death and disability.
WHO remarked that substantial progress has been made in reducing the burden of ischaemic heart disease since 2000 in several parts of the world. However, increases in individual-level risk were recorded in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions, highlighting continued differences in cardiovascular health between populations.
The risk of death from diabetes has also increased substantially since 2000, particularly in South-East Asia. Alzheimer disease and other dementias recorded a sharp increase during the same period.
Dementia became the fifth leading cause of death globally in 2023, compared with 19th in 2000. Global deaths attributed to dementia tripled between 2000 and 2023, according to the estimates.
Mental health conditions also contributed to the global disease burden. Between 2019 and 2023, the global age-standardized DALY rate increased by approximately 20% for depressive disorders and nearly 45% for anxiety disorders.
Together, depressive and anxiety disorders accounted for an estimated 110 million years of healthy life lost through premature death and disability in 2023.
Drug use disorders showed differing trends across WHO regions. The Americas recorded the largest increases in the risk of mortality and healthy life loss between 2000 and 2023, while the Western Pacific region recorded substantial declines.
“Taken together, the estimates show a global health landscape that is both recovering from the pandemic and continuing to evolve,” WHO noted.
Labrique said the estimates provide countries with evidence to assess how causes of death and disease burden are changing over time and across populations.
He added that the data can support health policy and priority-setting, while helping strengthen digital and data infrastructure and national and subnational capacity to analyse health information and produce timely insights for health interventions.
