Women live an average of 74.2 years globally, though that number varies dramatically depending on where they live. In wealthy countries, female life expectancy reaches into the mid-80s, while in the poorest regions it hovers in the low 60s. Across every country on Earth, women outlive men.
Female Life Expectancy by Region
The global average of 74.2 years for women masks enormous differences between regions. In high-income countries, women live to an average of 83.4 years. In low-income countries, that figure drops to 64.5. Across the 38 OECD member nations (mostly wealthy, industrialized countries), female life expectancy averaged 83.7 years in 2023, with Spain, Japan, and Switzerland leading the pack.
The starkest gap exists between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. A woman born in the European Union can expect to live roughly 20 years longer than a woman born in sub-Saharan Africa, where average life expectancy sits around 60.4 years. The primary driver of this gap is infant mortality. Countries with better healthcare infrastructure keep far more children alive past their first year, which pulls the overall average up significantly. In sub-Saharan Africa, high rates of malaria, limited access to medical care, and rising rates of conditions like high blood pressure and cancer all contribute to shorter lifespans.
Why Women Outlive Men
Women outlive men in every country. Globally, the gap is about 4.4 years, but it widens in wealthier nations. Across OECD countries, women live 5.2 years longer than men on average. In the European Union, the gap reaches 5.6 years, while in sub-Saharan Africa it narrows to about 3.5 years.
This survival advantage has both biological and behavioral roots, and the biology starts at the genetic level. Women carry two X chromosomes, which provides a built-in backup system. If one X chromosome carries a harmful gene mutation, the other can compensate. Men, with only one X chromosome, have no such safety net, which is why conditions like hemophilia almost exclusively affect males. Having two different versions of X-linked genes also gives women’s immune systems greater diversity when fighting off infections.
Hormones play an equally important role. Estrogen has anti-inflammatory effects and helps protect blood vessels, while testosterone tends to suppress immune function. This shows up clearly in infection rates: before menopause, women get bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections at substantially lower rates than men. Everything from tuberculosis to seasonal influenza to pneumococcal infections hits men harder.
Behavioral Differences That Widen the Gap
Biology only tells part of the story. Men’s cardiovascular disease risk is 80% higher than women’s, and a major reason is that men smoke at higher rates globally. Tobacco use remains one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease, and the gender gap in smoking has persisted for decades.
Men also tend to take fewer preventive health measures. They are less likely to wear sunscreen and less likely to see a doctor for routine checkups. The consequences show up in surprising places: two out of every three melanoma deaths occur in men, a disparity driven more by behavior (skipping sun protection, delaying skin checks) than by any biological vulnerability. Across many causes of death, the pattern repeats. Men engage in more risk-taking behavior, work in more physically dangerous occupations, and seek medical attention later when something goes wrong.
What Determines Where You Fall
While averages are useful, individual lifespan depends on a combination of factors that no single number can capture. Geography matters enormously. A girl born in Japan or Spain today can reasonably expect to live past 85, while a girl born in parts of West Africa faces far steeper odds. Access to clean water, childhood vaccinations, and basic maternal healthcare during the first years of life account for the largest share of that difference.
Beyond geography, the factors that most influence how long any individual woman lives are familiar ones: whether she smokes, her level of physical activity, her access to healthcare throughout life, and her exposure to chronic stress and environmental hazards. Genetics play a role too, but population-level studies consistently show that lifestyle and environment outweigh inherited traits for most people. The steady climb in female life expectancy over the past century, from under 50 in many countries to the low 80s today, happened not because human biology changed but because sanitation, nutrition, and medicine improved.
The gender gap in longevity also shifts over time. In countries where smoking rates among women have risen or where men have adopted healthier habits, the gap has narrowed. In the United States, the gap has recently been widening again, driven largely by higher rates of cardiovascular disease and drug overdose deaths among men.