Life expectancy nearly doubles
Global average lifespan rises from around 46 to over 73 years.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 70 years
- Known to
- ± 5 years
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
Between 1950 and the 2020s, global life expectancy rises from the mid-forties to the low seventies, and child mortality falls from around a quarter of children dying before five to under four per cent. Vaccination, antibiotics, clean water, oral rehydration and rising incomes each contribute. It is the largest improvement in human welfare in history by most measures, and it is rarely described as an event.