The United Nations’ (UN) newest world well being report for 2025 has ranked Nigeria because the nation with the bottom life expectancy globally.
The report locations Nigeria’s common life expectancy at 54.9 years, marking it the bottom on the earth.
The determine falls considerably under Africa’s continental common and fewer than three-quarters of the worldwide benchmark of 73.7 years.
Based on the information, Nigerian males stay a mean of 54.3 years, whereas ladies attain about 54.9 years.
For comparability, Chad and the Central African Republic barely fare higher, with life expectations of 55.2 and 57.7 years, respectively.
What life expectancy means
Life expectancy is the typical variety of years an individual is anticipated to stay based mostly on present mortality patterns.
It’s a key indicator of a rustic’s general well being, reflecting the standard of healthcare, residing situations, vitamin, and socio-economic wellbeing of its inhabitants.
The next life expectancy means that residents live longer, more healthy lives.
A decrease determine, as in Nigeria’s case, factors to persistent well being and improvement challenges.
Life expectancy stagnates since 2019
In 2019, the same UN report positioned Nigeria’s life expectancy at round 55 years, rating it the third lowest on the earth on the time.
The most recent determine due to this fact reveals just about no enchancment over six years ,and an additional slip in world rating as different nations made regular positive aspects.
The UN company’s earlier report additionally confirmed that Nigeria’s inhabitants grew sharply over the many years, rising from 54.7 million in 1969 to 105.4 million in 1994, and reaching 201.0 million in 2019. Of this determine, 44 per cent of Nigerians have been aged 0 to 14 years, whereas 32 per cent fell throughout the 10 to 24-year age vary, a demographic construction that underscores the heavy stress on healthcare, schooling, and employment methods.
Consultants have linked Nigeria’s dismal rating to long-standing issues akin to a excessive burden of infectious illnesses, restricted entry to high quality care, and recurring industrial actions by well being employees.
Additionally they level to broader socio-economic points, together with widespread poverty, insecurity, malnutrition, and environmental degradation, that proceed to undermine residents’ well being outcomes and high quality of life.
Requires pressing intervention
The UN report comes amid rising issues about widening world well being inequalities.
Public well being advocates have urged the Nigerian authorities and its worldwide companions to scale up investments in healthcare infrastructure, broaden entry to important providers, and handle the underlying socio-economic causes of poor well being outcomes.
They warn that except Nigeria confronts these deep-rooted structural issues, its inhabitants will stay among the many world’s most susceptible.
The report additional stresses that Nigeria’s state of affairs shouldn’t be merely a medical disaster however a warning signal of stalled social and financial improvement.
As world leaders put together for upcoming well being and improvement summits, specialists say Nigeria’s record-low life expectancy ought to function a wake-up name for pressing and coordinated reforms.
