Haiqiang Yao

57191263212

Publications - 1

Mapping drivers of life expectancy change in Asia from 1990 to 2023

Bhaskaran Unnikrishnan Balachandar Vellingiri Dinesh Upadhya Ahmed Bilal Waqar Kazumasa Yamagishi Zhiyong Zou Y. Waheed Suowen Xu Abdul Rohim Tualeka Liqun Zhang Dakshitha Praneeth Wickramasinghe Ingan Ukur Tarigan Manoj Tanwar Ghazala Yunus Nuwan Darshana Wickramasinghe Lishun Xiao Yong Yu Dehui Yin Galal Yahya Karn Wijarnpreecha Saba Tariq Yunquan Zhang Shoban Babu Varthya Muhammad Umair Marcos Roberto Tovani-Palone Narayanaswamy Venketasubramanian Srikanth Umakanthan Gary Tse Haiqiang Yao Dong Keon Yon Amir Yarahmadi Xiaoyi Zhang Jibrin Sammani Usman Pascual R. Valdez Pengpeng Ye Ramna Thakur Anggi Lukman Wicaksana Naohiro Yonemoto Stefanos Tyrovolas Chuanhua Yu Bach Xuan Tran Mario Valenti Hong Xiao Yen Jun Wong Shu Wang Saeed Ullah Haosu Tang Nikhil Kenny Thomas Fei Long Wei Sojit Tomo Md Ismail Tareque Sok Cin Tye Reem Temsah Ghazal Zoghi Masayuki Teramoto Jay Tewari Mohammed Zuber Joe Varghese Angga Wilandika Jose M. Valderas Zhiqiang Zhang Abzal Zhumagaliuly Thang Huu Tran Nguyen Kieu Viet-Nhi Manish Vinayak Asokan Govindaraj Vaithinathan Magdalena Zielińska Asokan Govindaraj Vaithinathan Dongmiao Zhang Salih Mustafa Zebari Siyan Yi Jansje Henny Vera Ticoalu Muhammad Waqas Munkhtuya Tumurkhuu Quynh Thuy Huong Tran Jef Van den Eynde Yanzhong Wang Xiaoyue Xu Madi Tleshev Hafsa Zia Wanqing Xie Mingyang Xue Yuichiro Yano Claire Chenwen Zhong Zhijia Xia Jae Il Shin Gary Tse Yuichi Yasufuku Rekha Thapar Mohammed G. M Zeariya Claire Chenwen Zhong Dongmiao Zhang Nguyen Tran Minh Duc Casper J. P Zhang Ruixuan Wang Era Upadhyay Nicholas Steel Simona Villani Robert G. Weintraub Manjari Tripathi Simon I. Hay Paul Yip Mukesh Kumar Yadav Nihal Thomas

Publication Name: Nature

Publication Date: 2026-01-01

Volume: Unknown

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Life expectancy is a key indicator of population health and an important guide for health policy1,2. Although Asia represents approximately 60% of the global population, studies of longitudinal trends in life expectancy and their underlying drivers across Asian countries remain limited, with most previous research focused on western or high-income settings3, 4, 5–6. Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of life expectancy, cause-specific mortality and risk factors in 1990–2023 across 34 Asian countries and territories, utilizing data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 20231,7. Life expectancy increased in all countries and territories between 1990 and 2023, with the largest annual gains observed in South Asia and the smallest annual gains in high-income Asia Pacific countries and territories. Reductions in cardiovascular disease mortality were the primary contributors to life expectancy gains in Central Asia, East Asia and high-income Asia Pacific, whereas declines in diarrhoeal diseases and tuberculosis contributed most in South and Southeast Asia. In 2019–2023, life expectancy declined in several Asian regions, largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a nearly two-year loss in the first year of the pandemic. The causes of changes in life expectancy and the contributing risk factors varied across regions and countries/territories. Therefore, under the principles of proportional universalism, proactive and effective policies at both regional and national levels are essential to reduce premature mortality and reduce life expectancy inequalities across Asia.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10739-6