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Country profile · Sub-Saharan Africa

Mortality in Zambia, by the numbers

Zambia sits in Sub-Saharan Africa. A newborn there can expect about 66.5 years of life, 179th of 212 countries with data. Below, every mortality measure the National Death Index tracks for Zambia, each with its global rank and source year.

Life expectancy
66.5 yrs
179th of 212
Population aged 65+
1.9 %
3rd lowest of 212
Age-standardized death rate
14.5 /1,000
12th highest of 182

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

How Zambia ranks, measure by measure
MeasureValueWorld rankYear
Life expectancy at birth 66.5 yrs 179 of 212 2024
Age-standardized death rate 14.5 /1,000 12 of 182 2021
Crude death rate 5.2 /1,000 183 of 212 2024
Life expectancy at 60 15.0 yrs 166 of 182 2021
Male mortality penalty 77.3 /1,000 74 of 212 2024
Life-expectancy gap (F−M) 4.8 yrs 114 of 212 2024
Old-age sex ratio (65+) 67.2 men/100 women 34 of 212 2024
Infant mortality 34.6 /1,000 34 of 192 2024
Maternal mortality 85.0 /100k 68 of 191 2023
Premature NCD mortality 23.6 % 43 of 182 2021
Suicide rate 7.1 /100k 93 of 182 2021
Road-traffic deaths 20.5 /100k 65 of 187 2019
Adult obesity 6.9 % 118 of 143 2003
Recorded alcohol per adult 3.6 L 107 of 185 2020
Population aged 65+ 1.9 % 210 of 212 2024
Health spending per capita $80 154 of 191 2023
GDP per capita $1,187 186 of 212 2024

Measured against the rest of the world, Zambia's sharpest departures from the middle of the pack are the 3rd lowest population aged 65+ in the world (1.9 %) and the 12th highest age-standardized death rate in the world (14.5 /1,000). Every figure above is the most recent the source reports for Zambia; the year sits beside each one, and rankings cover only countries with data for that measure.