List of South American countries by life expectancy

This is a list of South American countries by life expectancy. Life expectancy shows how long people in a country might live on average. It helps us learn about the health and living conditions of people in different places. By looking at life expectancy, we can see which countries may have better healthcare, food, and overall well-being for their people. This list gives us a quick view of health in South America.

United Nations (2023)

This part shows guesses about how long people might live, based on work by the United Nations in 2023.

Here are the guesses for life expectancy for different ages in 2023:

And here are how these guesses changed from 2019 to 2023:

Countries and territories	Life expectancy for population in general							Life expectancy for male				Life expectancy for female				Sex gap				Population (thous.)
Countries and territories	at birth	bonus 0→15	at 15	bonus 15→65	at 65	bonus 65→80	at 80	at birth	at 15	at 65	at 80	at birth	at 15	at 65	at 80	at birth	at 15	at 65	at 80	Population (thous.)
Chile	81.17	0.52	66.68	3.91	20.59	4.52	10.11	79.24	64.79	19.59	9.66	83.08	68.56	21.49	10.46	3.84	3.77	1.89	0.81	19659
Falkland Islands	79.21	0.96	65.17	2.98	18.16	4.84	8.00	77.15	63.09	16.45	7.07	81.24	67.22	19.68	8.84	4.09	4.12	3.23	1.77	3
Uruguay	78.14	0.61	63.75	5.19	18.94	5.90	9.84	74.19	59.82	16.02	7.72	81.92	67.51	21.31	11.06	7.73	7.69	5.29	3.34	3388
Peru	77.74	1.38	64.11	5.42	19.54	5.19	9.73	75.41	61.88	18.12	8.60	80.12	66.40	20.90	10.72	4.71	4.52	2.78	2.12	33846
Colombia	77.72	1.13	63.85	4.53	18.38	4.43	7.80	74.95	61.15	16.86	6.79	80.45	66.49	19.70	8.53	5.50	5.34	2.84	1.75	52321
Argentina	77.69	0.93	63.32	4.79	18.11	5.65	8.76	74.81	60.76	16.20	7.66	79.88	65.77	19.72	9.44	5.07	5.01	3.51	1.78	45538
Ecuador	77.39	1.12	63.51	5.24	18.75	4.58	8.34	74.66	60.86	17.25	7.32	80.14	66.17	20.10	9.09	5.47	5.32	2.86	1.77	17980
French Guiana	76.98	0.90	62.88	3.83	16.70	5.30	7.01	74.13	60.22	15.11	6.18	79.99	65.67	18.40	7.73	5.86	5.45	3.29	1.55	303
South America	76.21	1.30	62.51	5.58	18.09	5.10	8.19	73.26	59.64	16.59	7.38	79.18	65.39	19.40	8.76	5.92	5.75	2.81	1.37	433024
Brazil	75.85	1.17	62.02	5.77	17.79	4.97	7.77	72.76	59.01	16.39	7.13	78.98	65.06	19.03	8.23	6.22	6.05	2.64	1.10	211141
Paraguay	73.84	1.44	60.29	5.96	16.25	6.21	7.46	70.89	57.42	14.73	6.62	76.95	63.29	17.65	8.07	6.07	5.87	2.92	1.46	6844
Suriname	73.63	1.41	60.04	6.85	16.89	6.40	8.28	70.46	56.93	14.72	6.85	76.83	63.16	18.67	9.20	6.38	6.23	3.94	2.35	629
World	73.17	3.29	61.46	6.11	17.57	5.75	8.31	70.55	58.91	16.01	7.43	75.89	64.09	18.98	8.96	5.34	5.18	2.97	1.53	8091735
Venezuela	72.51	1.62	59.14	7.39	16.53	5.36	6.89	68.72	55.42	14.92	6.21	76.50	63.02	17.92	7.34	7.78	7.60	3.00	1.14	28301
Guyana	70.18	2.00	57.18	8.15	15.33	7.60	7.93	66.51	53.64	13.44	6.86	73.94	60.78	17.01	8.68	7.44	7.14	3.57	1.81	826
Bolivia	68.58	3.64	57.22	7.73	14.94	7.08	7.02	66.13	54.96	13.99	6.55	71.14	59.55	15.78	7.35	5.02	4.59	1.79	0.79	12244

Countries and territories	2023				Historical data									Recovery from COVID-19: 2019→2023	Population (thous.)
Countries and territories	All	Male	Female	Sex gap	2019	2019 →2020	2020	2020 →2021	2021	2021 →2022	2022	2022 →2023	2023	Recovery from COVID-19: 2019→2023	Population (thous.)
Chile	81.17	79.24	83.08	3.84	80.32	−0.97	79.35	−0.47	78.88	0.30	79.18	1.99	81.17	0.84	19659
Falkland Islands	79.21	77.15	81.24	4.09	78.61	0.16	78.78	0.21	78.99	0.06	79.05	0.17	79.21	0.60	3
Uruguay	78.14	74.19	81.92	7.73	77.50	0.88	78.38	−2.95	75.43	1.03	76.47	1.67	78.14	0.64	3388
Peru	77.74	75.41	80.12	4.71	76.28	−2.44	73.83	−2.24	71.60	5.24	76.83	0.91	77.74	1.47	33846
Colombia	77.72	74.95	80.45	5.50	76.79	−2.04	74.76	−2.06	72.70	3.81	76.51	1.22	77.72	0.93	52321
Argentina	77.39	74.81	79.88	5.07	76.85	−0.97	75.88	−1.93	73.95	1.86	75.81	1.59	77.39	0.55	45538
Ecuador	77.39	74.66	80.14	5.47	77.29	−5.28	72.00	0.74	72.75	3.83	76.58	0.81	77.39	0.11	17980
French Guiana	76.98	74.13	79.99	5.86	76.57	0.94	77.51	−3.31	74.19	2.60	76.79	0.18	76.98	0.41	303
Brazil	75.85	72.76	78.98	6.22	75.81	−1.30	74.51	−1.47	73.04	1.83	74.87	0.98	75.85	0.04	211141
Paraguay	73.84	70.89	76.95	6.07	73.67	−0.95	72.72	−4.61	68.11	4.21	72.32	1.52	73.84	0.18	6844
Suriname	73.63	70.46	76.83	6.38	71.77	0.55	72.32	−3.38	68.94	4.31	73.25	0.38	73.63	1.86	629
Venezuela	72.51	68.72	76.50	7.78	72.77	−0.40	72.37	−0.83	71.54	1.03	72.57	−0.05	72.51	−0.25	28301
Guyana	70.18	66.51	73.94	7.44	69.07	−1.32	67.75	−3.43	64.32	5.57	69.89	0.29	70.18	1.11	826
Bolivia	68.58	66.13	71.14	5.02	67.82	−4.91	62.91	−1.48	61.43	6.01	67.43	1.15	68.58	0.76	12244

World Bank Group (2024)

The World Bank Group made an estimate for the year 2024. This data only looks at countries in South America. The numbers in these tables are rounded, so they are not exact. Because of the rounding, some small differences might appear, like changes of just 0.01 year.

Change in life expectancy in South America from 2019 to 2021

World Bank Group (2024)
Countries and territories	2024				Historical data													recovery from COVID-19: 2019→2024
Countries and territories	All	Male	Female	Sex gap	2014	2014 →2019	2019	2019 →2020	2020	2020 →2021	2021	2021 →2022	2022	2022 →2023	2023	2023 →2024	2024	recovery from COVID-19: 2019→2024
Chile	81.36	79.45	83.23	3.77	79.71	0.61	80.32	−0.97	79.35	−0.47	78.88	0.30	79.18	1.99	81.17	0.19	81.36	1.03
Uruguay	78.29	74.38	82.04	7.66	77.19	0.31	77.50	0.88	78.38	−2.95	75.43	1.03	76.47	1.67	78.14	0.15	78.29	0.78
Peru	77.94	75.63	80.30	4.67	75.26	1.02	76.28	−2.44	73.83	−2.24	71.60	5.24	76.83	0.91	77.74	0.20	77.94	1.67
Colombia	77.91	75.16	80.61	5.45	75.95	0.84	76.79	−2.04	74.76	−2.06	72.70	3.81	76.51	1.22	77.72	0.19	77.91	1.12
Ecuador	77.58	74.88	80.31	5.43	76.14	1.14	77.29	−5.28	72.00	0.74	72.75	3.83	76.58	0.81	77.39	0.19	77.58	0.29
Argentina	77.54	74.98	80.02	5.04	76.27	0.58	76.85	−0.97	75.88	−1.93	73.95	1.86	75.81	1.59	77.39	0.15	77.54	0.70
Brazil	76.02	72.95	79.14	6.19	74.82	0.99	75.81	−1.30	74.51	−1.47	73.04	1.83	74.87	0.98	75.85	0.17	76.02	0.21
Paraguay	73.98	71.01	77.09	6.08	73.42	0.25	73.67	−0.95	72.72	−4.61	68.11	4.21	72.32	1.52	73.84	0.14	73.98	0.31
Suriname	73.76	70.59	76.98	6.38	70.33	1.44	71.77	0.55	72.32	−3.38	68.94	4.31	73.25	0.38	73.63	0.13	73.76	1.98
World	73.48	71.11	75.97	4.86	71.78	1.09	72.87	−0.69	72.18	−0.97	71.21	1.75	72.97	0.36	73.33	0.15	73.48	0.61
Venezuela	72.67	68.89	76.66	7.77	72.84	−0.07	72.77	−0.40	72.37	−0.83	71.54	1.03	72.57	−0.05	72.51	0.16	72.67	−0.09
Guyana	70.32	66.62	74.09	7.47	67.33	1.73	69.07	−1.32	67.75	−3.43	64.32	5.57	69.89	0.29	70.18	0.14	70.32	1.25
Bolivia	68.74	66.27	71.32	5.06	66.97	0.85	67.82	−4.91	62.91	−1.48	61.43	6.01	67.43	1.15	68.58	0.16	68.74	0.92

WHO (2019)

This section shows estimates from the World Health Organization for the year 2019. It includes information about life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in countries across America for that year.

World Health Organization (2019)
Countries	Life expectancy at birth					HALE at birth					Life expectancy at age 60					HALE at age 60
Countries	All	M	F	FΔM	Δ 2000	All	M	F	FΔM	Δ 2000	All	M	F	FΔM	Δ 2000	All	M	F	FΔM	Δ 2000
Chile	81.03	78.66	83.34	4.68	4.23	69.37	68.65	70.05	1.40	3.11	24.57	23.01	25.97	2.96	3.25	18.34	17.48	19.10	1.62	2.11
Peru	78.29	76.69	79.88	3.19	3.17	68.41	67.97	68.86	0.89	2.99	23.37	22.59	24.10	1.51	0.56	18.02	17.65	18.37	0.72	0.47
Colombia	77.95	75.33	80.55	5.22	5.41	67.90	66.44	69.34	2.90	4.58	22.69	21.20	24.03	2.83	2.40	17.41	16.42	18.31	1.89	1.80
Ecuador	77.75	75.32	80.23	4.91	5.16	67.62	66.42	68.83	2.41	4.12	22.83	21.46	24.12	2.66	2.27	17.36	16.50	18.17	1.67	1.51
Americas	77.07	74.42	79.76	5.34	2.98	65.76	64.51	67.01	2.50	2.19	22.64	21.23	23.92	2.69	1.62	16.61	15.74	17.40	1.66	0.96
Argentina	77.02	74.00	79.91	5.91	2.73	66.90	65.43	68.27	2.84	2.17	21.59	19.24	23.64	4.40	1.28	16.50	14.99	17.81	2.82	0.86
Uruguay	77.01	73.36	80.50	7.14	2.13	66.81	64.91	68.60	3.69	1.47	21.71	18.95	24.04	5.09	1.02	16.51	14.71	18.02	3.31	0.59
Brazil	75.48	72.22	78.73	6.51	3.98	64.53	62.96	66.07	3.11	3.61	21.32	19.58	22.84	3.26	1.54	15.81	14.74	16.74	2.00	1.13
Paraguay	75.08	72.18	78.16	5.98	0.40	64.87	63.47	66.38	2.91	0.46	21.01	19.22	22.82	3.60	−1.09	15.88	14.73	17.04	2.31	−0.85
World	73.12	70.61	75.70	5.09	6.35	63.45	62.33	64.59	2.26	5.33	21.03	19.41	22.54	3.13	2.16	15.80	14.87	16.67	1.80	1.52
Suriname	73.02	69.99	76.10	6.11	2.46	63.12	61.48	64.76	3.28	1.74	20.69	18.80	22.31	3.51	1.10	15.62	14.30	16.74	2.44	0.59
Bolivia	72.92	72.03	73.79	1.76	6.83	63.64	63.72	63.54	−0.18	5.87	19.42	19.07	19.71	0.64	1.62	14.79	14.69	14.88	0.19	1.10
Venezuela	72.71	68.38	77.35	8.97	−1.32	63.40	60.57	66.43	5.86	−0.98	20.67	18.52	22.64	4.12	−0.54	15.77	14.31	17.11	2.80	−0.39
Guyana	68.73	65.58	71.99	6.41	4.08	59.14	57.25	61.11	3.86	3.19	18.01	16.52	19.40	2.88	1.56	13.43	12.42	14.39	1.97	1.02