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Life expectancy at birth (years), 2021: 76.4 years
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births), 2023: 17
Under-five mortality rate (per 1000 live births), 2023: 6.5
Neonatal mortality rate (per 1000 live births), 2023: 3.4
Probability of dying from any of CVD, cancer, diabetes, CRD between age 30 and exact age 70 (%), 2021: 13.7%
Prevalence of stunting in children under 5 (%), 2024: 4.2%
Prevalence of wasting in children under 5 (%), 2015-2024: 0.1%
Prevalence of overweight in children under 5 (%), 2024: 9.7%
Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15-49 years (%), 2023: 15.0%

Source: World health statistics 2025: monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals. Tables of health statistics by country and area, WHO region and globally. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

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Population aged 15 years and over rating their own health as bad or very bad, 2021: 3.1%
Population aged 15 years and over rating their own health as good or very good, by income quintile, 2021
– Highest quintile: 92.5%
– Lowest quintile: 74.8%
– Total: 86.4%
Life expectancy at birth, 2021: 76.4 years
Infant mortality, deaths per 1,000 live births, 2021: 5.4
Maternal mortality rate, deaths per 100,000 live births, 2020: 21.1
Congestive heart failure hospital admission in adults, age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population, 2021: 357
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospital admissions in adults, age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population, 2021: 137
Adults aged 65 and over rating their own health as good or very good, 2021: 77%

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

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Life Expectancy at Birth, 2021: 77
Neonatal Mortality Rate, 2021: 3
Infant Mortality Rate, 2021: 5
Under-5 Mortality Rate, 2021: 5
Maternal Mortality Ratio, 2020: 21

Note: “Under-5 mortality rate – Probability of dying between birth and exactly 5 years of age, expressed per 1,000 live births.
“Infant mortality rate – Probability of dying between birth and exactly 1 year of age, expressed per 1,000 live births.
“Neonatal mortality rate – Probability of dying during the first 28 days of life, expressed per 1,000 live births.”
“Maternal mortality ratio – Number of deaths of women from pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births during the same time period (modelled estimates).”

Source: United Nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s Children 2023: For every child, vaccination, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Florence, April 2023.

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Life Expectancy at Birth, 2022: 78.20
Infant Mortality Rate, 2022 (per 1,000 live births): 5.04
Under-Five Mortality Rate, 2022 (per 1,000 live births): 5.92

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2023). Data Portal, custom data acquired via website. United Nations: New York. Accessed 12 May 2023.

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Maternal Deaths Per 100,000 Live Births, 2020: 21

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General Mortality Rate Per 1,000 Population (2016):
Total: 4.9; Male: 5.9; Female: 4.0
Communicable Diseases Mortality Rate Per 100,000 (2016):
Total: 28.3; Male: 31.9; Female: 25.2
Noncommunicable Diseases Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (2016):
Total: 417.8; Male: 492.1; Female: 353.4
External Causes Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (2016):
Total: 46.5; Male: 68.1; Female: 25.3
Lung Cancer Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (2016):
Total: 27.8; Male: 33.4; Female: 23.2
Colorectal Cancer Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (2016):
Total: 11.4; Male: 13.6; Female: 9.5
Ischemic Heart Diseases Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Population (2016):
Total: 79.2; Male: 106.3; Female: 56.0

Source: Pan American Health Organization. Core Indicators 2019: Health Trends in the Americas. Washington, D.C.: PAHO; 2019.

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“During 2018 to 2022, there were 6283 pregnancy-related deaths, including 1891 late maternal deaths. The ASR [age-standardized annual and aggregated rate of pregnancy-related mortality] increased by 27.7% from 25.3 deaths per 100 000 live births (95% CI, 23.7-26.9) in 2018 to 32.6 deaths per 100 000 live births (95% CI, 31.2-34.8) in 2022. The increase was observed across age group and was disproportionately driven by deaths that occurred among women aged 25 to 39 years (by 36.8%, 2018 vs 2022). There was a considerable variation in rates by state, ranging from 18.5 to 59.7 deaths per 100 000 live births. If the national rate was reduced to the lowest state rate, 2679 pregnancy-related deaths could have been prevented in 2018 to 2022. American Indian and Alaska Native women had the highest ASR (106.3 deaths per 100 000 live births), followed by non-Hispanic Black women (76.9 deaths per 100 000 live births). Although cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of the overall pregnancy-related deaths, cancer, mental and behavior disorders, and drug-induced and alcohol-induced death were important contributing causes of late maternal death.”

Source: Chen Y, Shiels MS, Uribe-Leitz T, et al. Pregnancy-Related Deaths in the US, 2018-2022. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(4):e254325. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.4325

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“In 2023, maternal mortality rates decreased significantly for White non-Hispanic (subsequently, White) and Hispanic women (Figure 2, Table). The observed decrease for Asian non-Hispanic (subsequently, Asian) and increase for Black non-Hispanic (subsequently, Black) women was not statistically significant. In 2023, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births and was significantly higher than rates for White (14.5), Hispanic (12.4), and Asian (10.7) women.

“Rates decreased significantly for women ages 25–39 and age 40 and older between 2022 and 2023 (Figure 3, Table). Rates in 2023 were 12.5 deaths per 100,000 live births for women younger than age 25, 18.1 for those ages 25–39, and 59.8 for those age 40 and older. The rate for women age 40 and older was nearly five times higher than the rate for women younger than age 25. Differences in the rates between age groups were statistically significant.”

Source: Hoyert DL. Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2023. NCHS Health E-Stats. 2025. dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc/174577

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“Non-Hispanic Black people are more likely than people in other racial and ethnic groups to die of heart disease.

“● Heart disease mortality in all racial and ethnic groups was lower in 2019 than in 2009 (Figure 1). Throughout the period, heart disease mortality was highest for non-Hispanic Black people and lowest for non-Hispanic Asian people (age-adjusted estimates).

“● In 2019, heart disease was the leading cause of death in non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic White, and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native people, and the second leading cause of death in Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian people (Table LCODRace [https://
www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/contents2020-2021.htm#TableLCODRace]).”

Source: National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2020–2021: Annual Perspective. Hyattsville, Maryland. 2023. dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:122044

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“Non-Hispanic Black people die of cancer at higher rates than other racial and ethnic groups.

“● From 2009 to 2019, cancer mortality rates decreased across all racial and ethnic groups for which trend testing is possible; however, they remained highest in non-Hispanic Black people throughout the period (Figure 2).

“● Cancer was the leading cause of death for Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian people in 2019. It was the second leading cause of death for non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native people (Table LCODRace [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/contents2020-2021.htm#TableLCODRace]).

“● From 2009 to 2018, White and Black people (including those of Hispanic origin) had the highest cancer incidence rates (35). However, Black people had the shortest survival time of any race group following diagnosis for most cancer types (35,39).”

Source: National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2020–2021: Annual Perspective. Hyattsville, Maryland. 2023. dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:122044

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“Males were more likely than females to die from all causes and the five leading causes of death.

“● While all-cause mortality decreased from 2009 to 2019, it remained one and four-tenths times as high in males as females (846.7 per 100,000 in males compared with 602.7 in females in 2019) (Table SlctMort [https:// www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/contents2020-2021.htm#TableSlctMort], age-adjusted estimates). In 2019, this difference was largest in those aged 15–24 (two and six-tenths times as high) and 25–34 (two and two-tenths times as high) (66,67).

“● For the five leading causes of death—heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and cerebrovascular diseases—death rates were higher in males than females in 2019 (Table LCODRace [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ hus/contents2020-2021.htm#Table-LCODRace]; Table SlctMort [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/ contents2020-2021.htm#Table-SlctMort]).”

Source: National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2020–2021: Annual Perspective. Hyattsville, Maryland. 2023. dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:122044

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“Life expectancy at birth has climbed, rising from 75.7 years in 1995 to 78.6 in 2017, an increase of 3.8% (Table 1.3). The gain for males exceeds that for females. Life expectancy at age 65 has risen even faster – 15% for males and 9% for females. Accordingly, mortality from all causes fell by over 20%. Much of this was due to a 42% reduction in mortality for circulatory diseases. Infant mortality rates fell by nearly 30%, but maternal mortality actually rose.

“Between 2014 and 2017 life expectancy did decline slightly, from 79.8 to 79.7 years. The decline was even greater among Black, non-Hispanic males, falling by 0.7 years over this period. The largest declines, however, were among working-age Whites who had not completed college – largely part of the opioid crisis and called ‘deaths of despair’ by the researchers who first discovered the trend, Anne Case and Angus Deaton (Karma, 2020).

“Of the 36 OECD countries, the US is in the bottom quartile in life expectancy, at 78.7 years in 2015, about two years below the median (Table 1.4). The only countries that are lower have per capita GDPs about half that of the US: Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Turkey. The relative position of the US has fallen over time. As recently as 1980 US life expectancy was at the median, exceeding countries such as Austria, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.

“A similar pattern exists with respect to infant mortality (Table 1.5). Overall death rates per 1000 live births declined by 34% between 1990 and 2015, to 5.9. The reductions were similar for neonatal deaths (under 28 days) and post-neonatal deaths (28 days to 11 months). There are, however, notable differences according to race / ethnicity, with rates for Whites, Hispanics / Latinos and Asians / Pacific Islanders significantly lower than those for Blacks / African Americans. Rates for the latter are more than twice that of Whites (CDC, 2017a).

“A conundrum that appears in many (but not all) US health indicators is the relatively good statistics for Hispanics and Latinos, whose overall infant mortality rates are slightly lower than Whites. This is sometimes termed the Latino ‘health paradox’. While Latinos have very high uninsurance rates, as well as lower incomes and educational levels on average, compared to Whites, many health indicators are nevertheless comparable to their wealthier, better educated and insured counterparts (Vega, Rodriquez & Gruskin, 2009). Latino smoking rates are also much lower than non-Hispanic Whites and African Americans (American Lung Association, 2020).”

Source: Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, van Ginneken E. United States of America: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(4): pp. i–441.

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“In recent years there has been increasing recognition that the healthcare system is not the main contributor to people’s health. Other factors – sometimes called ‘social determinants of health’ – include a vast array of cultural and environmental factors and are often far more important. A list of such factors is lengthy and includes parents’ education, poverty, family upbringing, language barriers, neighbourhood effects, racial segregation, safety, workforce issues, social capital and a host of environmental factors such as clean air and water. Moreover, these factors interact with one another. Higher incomes make it possible, for example, to avoid dangerous jobs and having to live in dangerous neighbourhoods. These social determinants form a backdrop for the data reported below on health status in the US.

“The US has experienced marked increases in life expectancy and reductions in most types of mortality in recent decades. Nevertheless, as other high-income countries have shown similar trends, the US has not gained in relative standing and continues to rank near the bottom with regard to such indicators as overall life expectancy, infant mortality and potential years of life lost.”

Source: Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, van Ginneken E. United States of America: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(4): pp. i–441.

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“An international statistic that receives much attention is mortality amenable to healthcare, which is defined as ‘premature deaths from causes that should not occur in the presence of timely and effective health care’ (Nolte & McKee, 2011). Over 30 causes of death have been defined as amenable to healthcare interventions, which can be summarized as ‘childhood infections, treatable cancers, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease and hypertension, and complications of common surgical procedures’. In addition, the measure includes half the deaths from ischaemic heart disease as amenable. For most of these conditions, only deaths occurring before the age of 75 were considered, although in a few instances lower age thresholds were used (e.g. cervical cancer before the age of 45).

“A related statistic is preventable mortality, which is defined as deaths that should have been avoided by public health interventions, ‘such as behaviour and lifestyle factors, socioeconomic status and environmental hazards’ (Eurostat, 2018). Fig. 7.11 shows both amenable and preventable mortality for the United States and seven other high-income countries between 2000 and 2017. The United States shows the highest rates for both measures. In 2016 the gap between the United States and the next highest country was quite considerable for amenable mortality. While amenable mortality rates have been generally declining for all of the countries, they fell faster elsewhere. In 2001, for example, the United States and the United Kingdom had nearly identical rates.

“There is a new index available that is a refinement of amenable mortality, called the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ ) index. It was developed in collaboration with researchers all over the world. Like mortality amenable to healthcare, the HAQ rates countries on their success in keeping people alive from afflictions that should not cause death if treated in a timely and high-quality manner by a country’s healthcare system. It purports to improve on amenable mortality in three ways: (1) to improve data comparability across countries by accounting for discrepancies in cause of death; (2) to better account for health risks, especially in cardiac deaths, that may be due to individual risk factors rather than access to and quality of care; and (3) to go beyond high-income countries to examine HAQ for 195 countries (GBD 2015 Healthcare Access and Quality Collaborators, 2017). As is the case with amenable mortality, the US index is considerably lower than in the other comparison countries.”

Source: Rice T, Rosenau P, Unruh LY, Barnes AJ, van Ginneken E. United States of America: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2020; 22(4): pp. i–441.

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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated June 12, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.