For the first time in five decades, India has seen a dip in life expectancy at birth. Children born in 2017-21 are expected to live for 69.8 years, compared to those born in 2016-20 whose average lifespan would be 70 years. The seemingly modest drop of 0.2 years is a critical demographic indicator and coincides with the peak COVID-19 years of 2020-21
Rajit Sengupta, Kiran Pandey
This factsheet was originally published in the June 1-15, 2025 print edition of Down To Earth