On measures of life expectancy, the Philippines ranks No. 131 out of 195 nations worldwide.
A man in the Philippines today can expect to live 69.0 years, while a man in Hong Kong can live to 82.5, and a man in Singapore, 80.7.
These are recent life expectancy figures from the World Health Organization, the Hong Kong Department of Health and the Singapore Department of Statistics.
According to 2023 data from the World Bank, the life expectancy of Filipino males could be even lower — 66.9 years.
These data can vary depending on the year and the reporting agency.
In general, women live longer than men. For females in the Philippines, life expectancy averages 74.8 years, according to the WHO.
Life expectancy for males in the Bicol Region is slightly below the national average — 67.6 years, according to one source. Data for Catanduanes were unavailable
If there’s any good news in the numbers, it is that that lifespans in the Philippines are on the increase, however slowly. Life expectancy for both males and females in 2022 was 71.53; in 2023, 71.66; in 2024, 71.79. This year it is projected to be 71.92, and optimists predict that life expectancy will reach 80 by 2100.
Life expectancy in the Philippines was 53.58 in 1950, the earliest year for which data are available.
Indeed, there is no reason why a Filipino male’s lifespan could not reach 90 under optimal conditions — a healthy diet, moderate exercise, access to health care, and no smoking or heavy drinking. Among Filipinos, genetics plays only a minor role in life expectancy.
“Life expectancy” is a population average, while “lifespan” is the length of life of a single individual.
At 71.92 years for both males and females projected for 2025, the Philippines’ average life expectancy falls well below that of its regional neighbors.
Singapore leads Southeast Asia at 84.1 years, followed by Thailand at 77.4; Brunei at 76.3; Malaysia at 76.2; and Vietnam at 75.8.
Only three Southeast Asian nations fall below the Philippines on these measures — Cambodia, 70.2 years; Laos, 68.5 years; and Myanmar, 67.8 years.
Short life expectancy in the Philippines can be attributed to many causes, but these causes can be divided into three broad groups — noncommunicable diseases, communicable diseases, and other causes.
In the Philippines, NCDs account for 68 percent of all deaths, while CDs account for 24 percent.
NCDs are health conditions that cannot be transmitted from person to person. These are mostly a result of poor lifestyle and dietary choices — heart disease, 250,000 deaths; cancer, 69,000 deaths; diabetes, 32,300 deaths; and kidney disease, 16,700 deaths.
CDs include the diseases that people get from each other or from the environment — pneumonia, 27,261 deaths; tuberculosis, 15,689 deaths; HIV/AIDS, 1,700 deaths; and dengue fever, 702 deaths.
Deaths from dengue fever vary widely from year to year.
Other causes of death include traffic accidents, 5,800 deaths; suicides, 4,500 deaths; homicides, 3,900 deaths; drownings, 3,200 deaths; fires, 2,700 deaths; and complications during childbirth, 2,500 deaths.
Lack of access to health care is often cited as a reason for short life expectancy. In 2022, there were 92,216 registered doctors in the Philippines, according to the Department of Labor and Employment, but a large percentage of registered physicians are not in practice or are employed overseas.
Consequently, the Philippines has only 4 physicians per 10,000 population, well below the WHO’s recommendation of 10 per 10,000.
By comparison, physician density in the United States is 26 per 10,000. For Hong Kong the number is 20, and for Singapore, 25.
Nearly one fifth of Philippine health professionals are working abroad, according to a 2015 census by the University of the Philippines Population Institute.
About 13,000 health care workers, including 2,600 doctors, migrate annually, mostly to the Unites States, Canada and the Middle East.
Healthcare access varies between urban centers like Metro Manila and remote islands in Mindanao and Visayas, where physician density can be as low as 1 per 10,000 residents, according to the WHO.
Environmental factors also impact longevity. Air quality in major urban centers frequently exceeds WHO safety thresholds. In Manila, for example, particulate matter levels averaging 18.2 micrograms per cubic meter are nearly four times the internationally recommended limit.
Also, typhoons, flooding, and other climate-related disasters regularly disrupt healthcare services in vulnerable areas.
Bryce McIntyre, PhD, resides in San Andres. He holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA