Photo: User:Florian Fuchs · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 05 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Canada: Health & Wellbeing
How long, and how well fed, do people live?
Canada is placed joint 33rd of 200 countries on health & wellbeing in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Life Expectancy at Birth 82.63 (2023); Under-Five Mortality Rate 5.427 (2024).
Health & Wellbeing
joint33rd
of 200 countries placed
Placed from 3 of 4 key statistics
- 82.63Life Expectancy at Birth, 2023Years a newborn would live at current death rates
- 5.427Under-Five Mortality Rate, 2024Deaths before age five (per 1,000 live births)
- —Stunting Prevalence in Children Under Five, 2024No reading for this country
- 1.9Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, 2023Population in severe food insecurity (%)
01The evidence
The 4 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Canada on health & wellbeing — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 4
Life Expectancy at Birth
UN DESA Population Division
Why it is a key: How long people actually live — the one measure of adult health on this site. Child mortality, which it correlates with, is a measure of a health system's reach in the first five years; this is the whole span.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
82.63
Years a newborn would live at current death rates
Higher is better
Canada: 82.63. Across the 222 countries in this edition, values run from 54.46 (Nigeria) to 86.37 (Monaco); the world median is 74.63.
- World median
- 74.63
- Best in Northern America
- 82.63 Canada
- Land neighbours
- United States 79.3
Each grey tick is one of 222 countries in the 2023 edition.
Key 2 of 4
Under-Five Mortality Rate
UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME)
Why it is a key: Deaths before a fifth birthday, the most widely used summary of whether a health system reaches people.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
5.427
Deaths before age five (per 1,000 live births)
Lower is better
Canada: 5.427. Across the 200 countries in this edition, values run from 1.26 (San Marino) to 115.65 (Nigeria); the world median is 14.54.
- World median
- 14.54
- Best in Northern America
- 5.427 Canada
- Land neighbours
- United States 6.472
Each grey tick is one of 200 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 3 of 4
Stunting Prevalence in Children Under Five
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)
Why it is a key: Children under five who are too short for their age — the mark chronic undernutrition leaves on a body, which says what early deprivation did rather than how many died of it.
Latest reading per country, 2014–2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
No reading
Children under 5 who are stunted (%)
Lower is better
UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) publishes no reading from 2014–2024 for Canada, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 162 countries at their latest reading, values run from 0.518 (Latvia) to 52.8 (Burundi); the world median is 13.8.
- World median
- 13.8
- Best in Northern America
- 3.8 United States
- Land neighbours
- United States 3.8
Each grey tick is one of 162 countries at its latest reading, 2014–2024.
Key 4 of 4
Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: The share of people who went without food, established by asking them rather than by modelling the supply.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 4.0
1.9
Population in severe food insecurity (%)
Lower is better
Canada: 1.9. Across the 133 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Armenia) to 63.1 (South Sudan); the world median is 4.7.
- World median
- 4.7
- Best in Northern America
- 1 United States
- Land neighbours
- United States 1
Each grey tick is one of 133 countries in the 2023 edition.
02Over time
Which way Canada is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Life Expectancy at Birth
Years a newborn would live at current death rates · higher is better
CanadaWorld median
Canada rose from 79.23 in 2000 to 82.63 in 2023; the world median went from 70.68 to 74.63.
Every year’s figures
Year Canada World median 2023 82.630 74.630 2022 81.249 74.313 2021 81.976 72.433 2020 81.654 73.063 2019 82.285 74.196 2018 81.925 74.081 2017 81.920 74.029 2016 82.030 74.013 2015 81.908 73.783 2014 81.837 73.330 2013 81.785 73.386 2012 81.704 73.210 2011 81.513 73.003 2010 81.336 72.827 2009 81.065 72.426 2008 80.730 72.264 2007 80.542 72.113 2006 80.540 72.027 2005 80.131 71.876 2004 80.029 71.477 2003 79.736 71.409 2002 79.566 71.173 2001 79.449 70.926 2000 79.233 70.678 Under-Five Mortality Rate
Deaths before age five (per 1,000 live births) · lower is better
CanadaWorld median
Canada fell from 6.221 in 2000 to 5.427 in 2024; the world median went from 30.43 to 14.54.
Every year’s figures
Year Canada World median 2024 5.427 14.5 2023 5.371 15.2 2022 5.298 14.7 2021 5.234 15.1 2020 5.194 15.3 2019 5.180 15.7 2018 5.191 16.3 2017 5.225 16.8 2016 5.277 17.5 2015 5.343 17.9 2014 5.416 18.3 2013 5.494 18.7 2012 5.572 18.8 2011 5.650 19.0 2010 5.726 19.2 2009 5.804 20.8 2008 5.885 20.7 2007 5.967 21.8 2006 6.041 22.8 2005 6.103 24.0 2004 6.147 25.9 2003 6.171 26.9 2002 6.184 28.0 2001 6.196 29.1 2000 6.221 30.4 Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity
Population in severe food insecurity (%) · lower is better
CanadaWorld median
Canada rose from 0.6 in 2015 to 1.9 in 2023; the world median went from 3.3 to 4.7.
Every year’s figures
Year Canada World median 2023 1.9 4.7 2022 1.5 5.4 2021 1.2 5.7 2020 1.0 5.6 2019 0.9 4.5 2018 0.7 3.9 2017 0.6 3.6 2016 0.6 3.3 2015 0.6 3.3
03In context
Canada beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 200 countries on health & wellbeing, never a place within the region.
Canada and the countries it borders
The standing is each country’s place among all 200 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Life Expectancy at BirthYears a newborn would live at current death rates | Under-Five Mortality RateDeaths before age five (per 1,000 live births) | Stunting Prevalence in Children Under FiveChildren under 5 who are stunted (%) | Prevalence of Severe Food InsecurityPopulation in severe food insecurity (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 United States | 32nd | 79.3 | 6.472 | 3.8 | 1 |
| Canada | =33rd | 82.63 | 5.427 | — | 1.9 |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Northern America
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 200.
Placed either side on health & wellbeing
The countries immediately above and below Canada in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Canada is ahead of the world, and behind
13 more statistics filed under health & wellbeing, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median9
Statistics on which Canada does better than the middle country measured.
Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 2020 · world median 0.5640.7980.564▲ Improved since 2010
Canada: 0.798 · world median 0.564 · HCI score (0–1). World Bank Group, 2020 edition, data for 2020.
Published values in that edition run from 0.292 to 0.879; higher is better.
Position 5th of 172 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Life Expectancy at Age 65UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · world median 16.3921.4816.39No real change since 2013
Canada: 21.48 · world median 16.39 · Further years a 65-year-old would live at current death rates. UN DESA Population Division, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 12.13 to 23.21; higher is better.
Position 12th of 222 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.7620.9390.762No real change since 2013
Canada: 0.939 · world median 0.762 · HDI score (0–1). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.388 to 0.972; higher is better.
Ranked 16th of 193 by UNDP Human Development Report Office.
Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.3510.0520.351No real change since 2013
Canada: 0.052 · world median 0.351 · GII (0 = full equality, 1 = maximum inequality). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.003 to 0.838; lower is better.
Ranked 18th of 172 by UNDP Human Development Report Office.
Dietary Energy SupplyFAO · 2024 · world median 2,9823,5762,982▼ Worsened since 2014
Canada: 3,576 · world median 2,982 · Dietary energy supply (kcal per person per day). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1,757 to 3,962; higher is better.
Position 18th of 155 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Prevalence of UndernourishmentFAO · 2023 · world median 5.22.55.2▼ Worsened since 2013
Canada: 2.5 · world median 5.2 · Population undernourished (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 2.5 to 54.2; lower is better.
Position 104th of 104 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Infant Mortality RateUN IGME · 2024 · world median 12.264.71712.26▼ Worsened since 2014
Canada: 4.717 · world median 12.26 · Deaths before age one (per 1,000 live births). UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1.214 to 71.87; lower is better.
Position 153rd of 200 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Maternal Mortality RatioMMEIG · 2023 · world median 46.6511.7846.65▼ Worsened since 2013
Canada: 11.78 · world median 46.65 · Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.11 to 992.83; lower is better.
Position 142nd of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Global Violent DeathsSmall Arms Survey · 2021 · world median 4.022.524.02▼ Worsened since 2011
Canada: 2.52 · world median 4.02 · Violent deaths per 100,000 people. Small Arms Survey, 2021 edition, data for 2021.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 112.28; lower is better.
Position 127th of 206 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Behind the world median2
Statistics on which Canada does worse than the middle country measured.
Births Attended by Skilled Health StaffUNICEF · 2019 · world median 98.89898.8No real change since 2009
Canada: 98 · world median 98.8 · Births attended by skilled health staff (%). UNICEF, 2019 edition, data for 2019.
Published values in that edition run from 31.9 to 100; higher is better.
Position 54th of 86 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Fatal Occupational InjuriesILO · 2023 · world median 2.0055.1982.005▼ Worsened since 2013
Canada: 5.198 · world median 2.005 · Fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers. International Labour Organization (ILO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.12 to 8.409; lower is better.
No better end2
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Pesticide Use per HectareFAO · 2024 · world median 1.732.671.73No real change since 2014
Canada: 2.67 · world median 1.73 · Pesticide use (kg per hectare of cropland). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 37.72.
Position 78th of 178 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Average Weekly Hours WorkedILO · 2025 · world median 38.8931.8638.89Moved since 2015
Canada: 31.86 · world median 38.89 · Average weekly hours actually worked per employed person. International Labour Organization (ILO), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 23.64 to 54.7.
Position 157th of 182 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No current reading for Canada
Children with Functional Difficulties, Exclusive Breastfeeding Under Six Months, Female Genital Mutilation Prevalence, Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, Global Report on Food Crises, INFORM Severity Index, Stunting Prevalence in Children Under Five and Violent Discipline of Children. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Health & Wellbeing among Canada’s 15 topics
Health & Wellbeing is Canada’s 8th best-placed topic of 15. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Digital & Technology8th of 1983/3 keys
- Governance & Institutions8th of 1944/4 keys
- Democracy & Civil Libertiesjoint 20th of 1983/3 keys
- Economy & Innovation18th of 1764/4 keys
- Energy20th of 1933/3 keys
- Gender & Equality20th of 1834/4 keys
- Development & Human Capital27th of 1963/3 keys
- Health & Wellbeingjoint 33rd of 2003/4 keys
- Food & Agriculture31st of 1754/4 keys
- Peace & Securityjoint 34th of 1774/4 keys
- Work & Labour36th of 1824/4 keys
- Mobility & Trade30th of 1473/3 keys
- Poverty & Inequality40th of 1592/2 keys
- Risk & Resilience72nd of 1923/3 keys
- Environment & Sustainability151st of 1813/3 keys
No standing on Education & Knowledge: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on health & wellbeing
The three countries placed highest of 200, and the leaders Canada can most readily be measured against.
1
San MarinoSouthern Europe
1st of 200 · 2 of 4 keys
Photo: Matl derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2
MonacoWestern Europe
2nd of 200 · 2 of 4 keys
Photo: Martin Weber derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3
AndorraSouthern Europe
3rd of 200 · 2 of 4 keys
Photo: Tiia Monto derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest placed on all 4 keys
South Korea5th4/4 keysHighest in Americas
United States32nd4/4 keysThis page
Canada=33rd3/4 keys
Positions out of 200 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Analysis
Charts and analysis about Canada and health & wellbeing
On health & wellbeing
Global Hunger Index 2025: Countries with the Most Alarming Hunger Crisis
Thirteen countries scored across four editions — 2000, 2008, 2016 and 2025 — and five the report could not score at all. DR Congo and South Sudan share 121st place on 37.5.
On health & wellbeing
World Happiness Report 2025: Finland Leads Again as the US and UK Face Major Declines
The ten highest life evaluations of 2025, drawn on a world map, and the six things the report uses to explain them. Costa Rica and Mexico are the only two outside Europe and the Middle East.
08Questions
Canada on health & wellbeing: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Canada rank on health & wellbeing?
Canada is placed joint 33rd of 200 countries on Health & Wellbeing in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics (Life Expectancy at Birth, Under-Five Mortality Rate and Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Life Expectancy at Birth figure for Canada?
82.63 in 2023 (years a newborn would live at current death rates), according to UN DESA Population Division. The world median in the same edition was 74.63.
What is the latest Under-Five Mortality Rate figure for Canada?
5.427 in 2024 (deaths before age five (per 1,000 live births)), according to UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). The world median in the same edition was 14.54.
How does Canada compare with United States on health & wellbeing?
United States is placed 32nd of 200, and Canada joint 33rd. Life Expectancy at Birth: United States 79.3, Canada 82.63; Under-Five Mortality Rate: United States 6.472, Canada 5.427; Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity: United States 1, Canada 1.9.
How have Canada’s health & wellbeing figures changed?
Life Expectancy at Birth rose from 79.23 in 2000 to 82.63 in 2023; Under-Five Mortality Rate fell from 6.221 in 2000 to 5.427 in 2024; Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity rose from 0.6 in 2015 to 1.9 in 2023.
Which health & wellbeing statistics are missing for Canada?
No current reading is published for Canada on Children with Functional Difficulties, Exclusive Breastfeeding Under Six Months, Female Genital Mutilation Prevalence, Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, Global Report on Food Crises, INFORM Severity Index, Stunting Prevalence in Children Under Five and Violent Discipline of Children. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
09Keep reading
Explore further
Canada, topic by topic
- Governance & Institutions8th of 194
- Economy & Innovation18th of 176
- Work & Labour36th of 182
- Development & Human Capital27th of 196
- Environment & Sustainability151st of 181
- Gender & Equality20th of 183
- Democracy & Civil Liberties=20th of 198
- Peace & Security=34th of 177
- Risk & Resilience72nd of 192
- Mobility & Trade30th of 147
- Food & Agriculture31st of 175
- Poverty & Inequality40th of 159
- Energy20th of 193
- Digital & Technology8th of 198
- The full Canada profile
Nearby, on health & wellbeing
The key statistics, for every country
10Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Health spending, hospital beds and doctors per person are not measured, because more of any of them does not guarantee better outcomes. Mental health and self-reported happiness are not part of this topic. Food supply per person is measured under Food & Agriculture. Maternal mortality and many other indicators are published here as context; maternal mortality is a key in Development & Human Capital instead.
How the Health & Wellbeing standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 20 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2023 to 2024, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 200 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- Life Expectancy at Birth — UN DESA Population Division, CC BY 3.0 IGO
- Under-Five Mortality Rate — UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), CC BY 3.0 IGO
- Stunting Prevalence in Children Under Five — UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates), CC BY 3.0 IGO
- Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CC BY 4.0
The other 13 statistics on this page come from 9 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Canada’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Canada (banner) — User:Florian Fuchs, CC BY 3.0
- San Marino — Matl derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Monaco — Martin Weber derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Andorra — Tiia Monto derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Canada: Health & Wellbeing — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/canada/health