On the subject of death and dying, and how early or late it comes...
Life expectancy at birth, i.e. the age at which you'd expect 50% of the population to still be alive based on average mortality in each age bracket, has been tracking upwards worldwide by a year or two in every 5 years since 1950. Currently it's sitting at 73.2 worldwide. https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/
It's a useful metric; it often correlates well with a lot of other measures of wellbeing. I tend to view different countries as sitting in the following tiers based on life expectancy:
Tier 1: Countries with a life expectancy of 80 or above (39 countries in total [depending a little on the definition of country]; covering most of Western Europe, with very strong East Asian representation and other scattered countries from N and S America, Australasia, elsewhere in Europe and the Middle East; Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Switzerland and Singapore making up the top 5). EDIT: Our many forumites from the UK might be interested if not surprised to know that we are in this tier, sitting at 29th in the world on 81.8, similar to Slovenia and Denmark.
Tier 2: Countries with a life expectancy of 75 to 79.9 (56 countries, with representation from every continent but Antarctica; with the larger countries in this tier including the USA and China)
Tier 3: Countries with a life expectancy of 70 to 74.9 (43 countries, also with representation from every continent but Antarctica; the larger countries in this tier including India, Indonesia and Russia)
Tier 4: Countries with a life expectancy of 65 to 69.9 (24 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia; Pakistan the largest country by population in this tier)
Tier 5: Countries with a life expectancy of 60 to 64.9 (19 countries; 18 of them in Africa plus Haiti; not sure which is the largest by population in this tier - maybe South Africa)
Tier 6: Countries with a life expectancy below 60 (10 countries; all of them in Africa; Nigeria the largest by population in this tier, and the Central African Republic sits at the very bottom of the list, at 54.6 years).
Notably, of course, the global average in 1950 was significantly lower again than the worst-off country today; at 47.0 years, you'd need a few further tiers to cover all of the world at that time; and the highest ranked country in 1950-1955, Norway, had a slightly lower life expectancy (72.8) than the global average today. We've come a long way in the last three score years and ten.
It's also worth noting that there can be considerable spread within the larger countries. Different states of the USA in 2018 ranged from Tier 1 (10 states, with Hawaii at the top on 82.3) to Tier 3 (2 states - Mississippi and West Virginia). Hawaii would sit between the 24th and 25th highest ranked countries in the world (Belgium and Portugal); West Virginia between the 95th and 96th (Jordan and Jamaica). Similarly, different states of India in 2010-14 ranged from the border of Tier 2 and 3 (Kerala, on 74.9, similar to, say, Jordan, Jamaica or Mississippi today) to Tier 5 (4 states, with Assam at the bottom on 63.9, similar to Uganda, Niger or the Gambia).
This year, of course, we may well see a dip in life expectancy in much of the world, after seeing it flatten out and stop rising in a few rich countries in recent years (particularly the UK and the USA). Over the next decade, however, I'd expect we continue to see most countries climb slowly up to where Tier 1 and 2 sit today; and Tier 1 may need to be split later if more countries join Japan and Hong Kong in having a life expectancy of 85 or over. (Perhaps we should call these two countries Tier 0...) As long as there are no truly catastrophic global events coming our way, of course.
