Life expectancy at birth in Eastern Africa was 47.8 years in 1981: 50.3 for women and 45.5 for men, a gap of 4.8 years. 2,685,293 people died; 12.1% of them were 65 or older and 53.8% children under five. The most common age at death was 0-4. Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects 2024.

Key indicators, 1981

Life expectancy at birth

47.8

Women

50.3

Men

45.5

Life expectancy at 65

12.0

Infant deaths per 1,000 births

120.1

Under-5 deaths per 1,000 births

202.7

Deaths

2,685,293

Deaths per 1,000 people

17.8

Men dying between 15 and 60 (per 1,000)

421

Women dying between 15 and 60 (per 1,000)

324

Life expectancy is a period measure: how long a newborn would live if 1981's death rates at each age stayed the same for their whole life.

Death rate by age, 1981

Deaths per 1,000 people per year in each age group. Logarithmic scale: each gridline is ten times the one below. Hover for exact values.

WomenMen

Show the life table data

Age	Death rate, women (‰)	Death rate, men (‰)	Years left, women	Years left, men
0	120.07	141.60	50.3	45.5
1-4	24.17	25.64	55.5	51.2
5-9	6.57	7.46	57.0	52.5
10-14	3.79	4.13	53.8	49.4
15-19	4.14	5.04	49.8	45.4
20-24	5.05	7.41	45.7	41.5
25-29	5.91	8.01	41.9	37.9
30-34	6.75	8.72	38.0	34.4
35-39	7.73	10.06	34.3	30.8
40-44	8.79	12.08	30.5	27.3
45-49	9.88	14.61	26.8	23.8
50-54	12.70	18.66	23.0	20.4
55-59	17.17	24.36	19.3	17.2
60-64	25.76	34.46	15.8	14.1
65-69	39.45	49.92	12.7	11.3
70-74	62.00	75.91	9.9	8.7
75-79	94.43	114.00	7.5	6.7
80-84	142.65	169.56	5.7	5.0
85-89	209.94	248.90	4.2	3.7
90-94	299.08	342.31	3.2	2.8
95-99	403.82	455.28	2.4	2.2
100+	521.57	585.04	1.9	1.7

Mortality in Eastern Africa by year

Mortality in Eastern Africa, 1981

Year

Country