Life Expectancy at Birth in Sweden: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

Welcome to MYRIAD, where we examine the statistics of human lives. How many years a newborn could expect to live, given the mortality of the time and place. For Sweden, the story across three centuries is below every value is a statistical fact about the lives actually lived there. In the 2020s, life expectancy at birth in Sweden stands at 82.4 years ranking #8 of 157 countries. This metric represents the quiet accumulation of days, breaths, and decades recorded across generations.

The historical arc of these numbers reveals a steady, profound transformation. Decade by decade, the data shifts upward from the 1800s estimate 34.51 through the 1810s estimate 35.45, the 1820s estimate 36.39, the 1830s estimate 37.33, the 1840s estimate 38.26, the 1850s estimate 39.2, the 1860s estimate 40.14, the 1870s estimate 41.08, the 1880s estimate 42.01, and the 1890s estimate 42.95. By 1900 it was 43.89 years, mirroring the 1900s estimate 43.89. The climb continued through the 1910s estimate 48.25, the 1920s estimate 52.61, the 1930s estimate 56.96, the 1940s estimate 61.32, the 1950s 65.68, the 1960s 68.55, the 1970s 71.42, the 1980s 74.29, the 1990s 76.05, the 2000s 77.81, and the 2010s 80.1.

What it means for someone born there or then depends entirely on the era they entered the world. Looking forward, the projections stretch toward the 2030s projection 83.6, the 2040s projection 84.8, the 2050s projection 86, the 2060s projection 87.2, the 2070s projection 88.4, the 2080s projection 89.6, the 2090s projection 90.8, and the 2100s projection 92. Keep exploring Income per Person (GDP per capita, PPP) in Sweden, Child Mortality (under 5) in Sweden, Years of Schooling in Sweden, Children per Woman in Sweden, Living in Cities in Sweden, Full country profile: Sweden. Where do YOU rank among everyone ever born?