Life expectancy in Iraq from 1870 to 2020

In 1870, it is estimated that life expectancy from birth in the area of modern-day Iraq was just over the age of 31 years. Life expectancy would remain largely stagnant at this level for much of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, interrupted only by a temporary dip in the late-1910s as the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic would spread through the region. Life expectancy would begin to rise sharply in the years following the Second World War, however, as rising petroleum sales allowed a rapid modernization of the country, causing access to healthcare and standards of living to rise throughout the country. The large reductions in infant and child mortality were the driving force behind the increase in life expectancy.

This growth would continue steadily until the 1980s, when life expectancy would fall from just under 62 years in 1980, to 58.5 years in 1985, as the decade long Iran-Iraq War would lead to widespread fatalities and displacement in the country. As the fighting eased in the late 1980s, life expectancy began to rise once more in Iraq, reaching 69 years by the start of the 21^st century. However, this growth would reverse once more in the 2000s, due to the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, which in turn led to an insurgency of paramilitary and terrorist groups, and the subsequent civil war from 2011 to 2017. As Iraq continues its recovery following four decades of violence and instability, life expectancy is on the rise again, and in 2020, it is estimated that life expectancy from birth in Iraq is over seventy years.