World view · wellbeing
Life Expectancy
औसत आयु
Nepal · 2023
70.4 years
Trajectory · 1960–2023
Life Expectancy
World Bank / UN DESA
Linear extrapolation of the last 5-year trend — illustrative only, not a forecast.
Solid — measured history
Dashed — if current trend continues
Green dotted — reform scenario (1.5× current pace)
Honest caveat: projections are linear extrapolation of the last 5 observed years. Real-world indices change non-linearly with policy shocks, elections, and external events. This tool answers "where would this go if nothing changes?" — it is not a forecast. For real change, see the "what would move this" panel below.
Why Nepal is here
Nepalis born today live nearly twice as long as those born in 1960 — one of the most stunning gains anywhere in the world. Drivers: child-mortality drop, immunisation coverage, basic-health-services expansion. Remaining gap with Sri Lanka (76.4) is mostly non-communicable disease control and hospital quality.
The short version
When your great-grandparents were born, the average Nepali lived only 36 years. You can expect to live to 70 or 80. This is one of the things Nepal got really right.
Inside the score
The headline number breaks down into these sub-scores — these are the levers.
Child mortality (<5)
73/100
27/1,000 — fastest-falling driver of LE gains in last 30 years
Maternal mortality
64/100
174/100,000 live births — high, but down from 539 in 1996
Non-communicable disease deaths
45/100
Now ~71% of all deaths — silent epidemic; almost no primary-care screening
Air pollution-attributable
38/100
Estimated 2.5–3.5 yrs of life expectancy lost in Kathmandu Valley (AQLI)
Road traffic deaths
54/100
15.9 per 100,000 — among the highest in S. Asia
SAARC scoreboard
How Nepal compares to its neighbours on this index, latest year.
What would actually move this
Three concrete actions — each tied to where a comparable country actually moved on this metric.
- 1
Tackle NCDs — diabetes, hypertension, stroke now drive over 60% of deaths. Primary-care screening at every Health Post.
- 2
Pollution: Kathmandu Valley AQI > 200 most winter days is silently cutting years off life.
- 3
Road safety: Nepal's road death rate per 100,000 is among the highest in South Asia.
Countries that moved — and how
Real reform episodes from countries roughly our size or context. Each shows that significant movement is possible within a decade.
South Korea 🇰🇷
57 → 83.5 yrs (1960 → 2022)
Universal health insurance from 1989, world-class cancer screening, NCD control programmes — single biggest jump on record.
Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
62 → 76.4 yrs (1960 → 2022)
Free public healthcare since 1945, female literacy push, decentralised primary care — gained more life than any S. Asian neighbour.
Bangladesh 🇧🇩
46 → 73.6 yrs (1960 → 2022)
BRAC oral-rehydration campaign, near-universal immunisation, community health workers in every union.
Source · cited verbatim
World Bank / UN DESA — Life Expectancy, 2023
Open the publisher's releaseAll values on this page are taken directly from this source. Year and confidence level is shown on each card. If you find a discrepancy with the publisher's current dataset, please report it.