[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:94:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"health",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","2GQO7uRDvwtu3ahCuFdSuY","Entry","2023-04-21T09:38:46.743Z","2023-11-24T09:10:35.589Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",34,13,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":58,"wrongPercentage":94,"name":95,"questionText":96,"statistics":97,"veryWrongStatistics":99,"correctSentence":101,"youWereWrong":102,"youWereRight":103,"dataSourceShortText":104,"dataSourceLinkLongText":105,"extendedAnswerText":106,"headingVeryWrong":107,"youWereVeryWrong":108,"headingWrong":107},"94",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"3fboqs7XeVhDkWtCChpEzz","2023-04-21T09:38:46.850Z","2023-10-11T08:24:22.029Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},14,10,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"94-a1",true,false,"37 years",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"2awWeA7DtZys1Wp4CGwKWh","2023-04-21T09:38:46.896Z","2023-10-11T08:24:21.987Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":76},"94-a2","47 years",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"3zXZbPU5TGjia5nB7ox8A9","2023-04-21T09:38:46.935Z","2023-10-11T08:24:21.946Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"94-a3","57 years",77,"Life expectancy","The average length of life worldwide is roughly 72, today. What was the global life expectancy a hundred years ago?",[98],"uk 0.75",[100],"uk 0.32","A hundred years ago, the average global life expectancy was just 37 years.","You really underestimated improvements in healthcare and living standards over the past century!","Most people completely underestimate the improvements in healthcare and living standards over the past century.","Source: Gapminder calculations (using IHME and UN)","Life expectancy at birth is the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. If a person made it past childhood, they are likely to have lived longer than the average age. Still, this is a good measure of the overall health across the world, that of course hides big differences between countries and regions. We compiled these numbers from a number of sources. For the period between 1970-2019, we use the data from IHME’s Global Burden of Disease 2019. To go back in time we combined the IHME data with our historic data, which was based on 100 sources and compiled by Gapminder’s former head statistician, Mattias Lindgren.\n\n[1]  [Gapminder calculations (using IHME and UN)](https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.google.com\u002Fspreadsheets\u002Fd\u002F1RheSon1-q4vFc3AGyupVPH6ptEByE-VtnjOCselU0PE\u002Fedit#gid=569008164)  ","The average lifespan of a baby born in the early 1920s was just 37. Of course there were huge differences between different countries and the number of babies who died brought the global average down. Nowadays, most babies get vaccinated and mothers get help from medical professionals while giving birth.\n\nThat doesn’t explain the entire increase in life expectancy that has happened everywhere in the past 100 years. Fewer babies dying, plus most people having access to healthcare, better sanitation and clean water have all contributed. Also, terrible illnesses like smallpox that used to kill millions of people have been eradicated or become nearly non-existent because of widespread vaccination programmes.\n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this?\nIt shows a lack of awareness of how big an impact widespread introduction of things we take for granted nowadays - like vaccines, clean water, sanitation and trained health staff - have had on the health of the entire planet.\n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nThey underestimate how small incremental changes add up to a huge change over time.\n\n### Can I trust this fact?\nYes, but it is important to know what these numbers represent. Life expectancy at birth is the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. If a person made it past childhood, they are likely to have lived longer than the average age. Still, this is a good measure of the overall health across the world, that of course hides big differences between countries and regions. We compiled these numbers from a number of sources. For the period between 1970-2019, we use the data from IHME’s Global Burden of Disease 2019. To go back in time we combined the IHME data with our historic data, which was based on 100 sources and compiled by Gapminder’s former head statistician, Mattias Lindgren.\n\n### Discover more\nYou can see how life expectancy has changed in different countries since 1800 using  [Gapminder’s bubble chart.](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gapminder.org\u002Ftools\u002F#$chart-type=bubbles&url=v1) \n","Average lifespans have doubled!","You thought life expectancy had only increased by 15 years during the last century. You have hugely underestimated improvements in healthcare and living standards!"]