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Country profile · East Asia & Pacific

Mortality in China, by the numbers

China sits in East Asia & Pacific. A newborn there can expect about 78.1 years of life, 67th of 212 countries with data. Below, every mortality measure the National Death Index tracks for China, each with its global rank and source year.

Life expectancy
78.1 yrs
67th of 212
Adult obesity
2.5 %
11th lowest of 143
Age-standardized death rate
5.6 /1,000
36th lowest of 182

17 measures · sources: World Bank Open Data and WHO Global Health Observatory (Global Health Estimates 2021) · latest available year per figure

How China ranks, measure by measure
MeasureValueWorld rankYear
Life expectancy at birth 78.1 yrs 67 of 212 2024
Age-standardized death rate 5.6 /1,000 147 of 182 2021
Crude death rate 7.8 /1,000 88 of 212 2024
Life expectancy at 60 21.2 yrs 39 of 182 2021
Male mortality penalty 55.0 /1,000 122 of 212 2024
Life-expectancy gap (F−M) 5.7 yrs 69 of 212 2024
Old-age sex ratio (65+) 81.9 men/100 women 123 of 212 2024
Infant mortality 4.1 /1,000 150 of 192 2024
Maternal mortality 16.0 /100k 128 of 191 2023
Premature NCD mortality 15.9 % 116 of 182 2021
Suicide rate 9.0 /100k 63 of 182 2021
Road-traffic deaths 17.4 /100k 73 of 187 2019
Adult obesity 2.5 % 133 of 143 2011
Recorded alcohol per adult 4.6 L 90 of 185 2020
Population aged 65+ 14.7 % 65 of 212 2024
Health spending per capita $763 72 of 191 2023
GDP per capita $13,303 92 of 212 2024

Measured against the rest of the world, China's sharpest departures from the middle of the pack are the 11th lowest adult obesity in the world (2.5 %) and the 36th lowest age-standardized death rate in the world (5.6 /1,000). Every figure above is the most recent the source reports for China; the year sits beside each one, and rankings cover only countries with data for that measure.