Average Age in Pakistan: Life Expectancy, Median Age & Data
How old is Pakistan, really? Life expectancy (68.1 years), median age (about 21), population trends and what the numbers mean — with verified World Bank, UN and WHO data.
Last updated: 11 October 2026
Median age (years)
Life expectancy (2024)
Population (2024)
Population under 30
The key numbers at a glance
Verified figures from the World Bank, the UN and the WHO.
| Indicator | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth | 68.1 years (2024) | World Bank |
| Male life expectancy | 65.7 years | UN World Population Prospects |
| Female life expectancy | 70.6 years | UN World Population Prospects |
| Healthy life expectancy | ~66 years lived, ~9 in poor health | WHO |
| Median age | ~21 years | UN |
| Population | 251.3 million (2024) | World Bank |
| Under-five mortality | 58.5 per 1,000 live births (2023) | WHO |
Median age vs life expectancy: don’t confuse them
“Average age in Pakistan” is searched with two different meanings. Here is the distinction.
Median age — how old Pakistanis are
Half the population is younger than ~21 and half older. This measures the population’s age structure: Pakistan is extraordinarily young, a “youth bulge” country. It says nothing about how long people live.
Life expectancy — how long Pakistanis live
A newborn today can expect to live 68.1 years on average, given current mortality rates. This measures health, healthcare and living conditions — a completely different question from the median age.
How life expectancy has changed
The long view: dramatic gains, then a slowdown.
In the 1960s, a Pakistani newborn could expect roughly 45 years. By 2000 the figure had climbed into the low 60s; by 2024 it reached 68.1. The gains came from the classic drivers: vaccination, cleaner water, better maternal care, and antibiotics. But progress has slowed: Pakistan’s life expectancy grew more slowly than its neighbours’ over the last two decades, and the WHO notes Pakistanis still spend around nine years of life in poor health — among the region’s widest health gaps.
Women outlive men by about five years (70.6 vs 65.7) — a typical global pattern, driven by biology and by men’s higher exposure to occupational hazards, road accidents and smoking.
Pakistan vs the region
Life expectancy, UN 2026 estimates (years).
| Country | Life expectancy | vs Pakistan |
|---|---|---|
| Sri Lanka | 78.0 | +9.9 |
| Bangladesh | 75.5 | +7.4 |
| India | 72.7 | +4.6 |
| Nepal | 71.2 | +3.1 |
| Pakistan | 68.1 | — |
Why the numbers are what they are
The forces shaping Pakistani lifespans.
Healthcare access
Health spending is under 3% of GDP; rural areas rely on basic health units. Maternal and neonatal care has improved but gaps remain — neonatal deaths are two-thirds of under-five mortality.
Disease burden
Infectious disease still kills at scale: lower respiratory infections (~67,000 deaths/year), diarrhoeal disease (~58,000), TB (~55,000), plus rising non-communicable disease — heart disease, diabetes.
Environment & safety
Air pollution (Lahore’s winter smog), unsafe water, and road injuries (~29,000 deaths/year) all drag the average down. Each is a policy choice as much as a fate.
What a young Pakistan means
A median age of 21 is an opportunity and a deadline.
Pakistan’s youth bulge can be a demographic dividend — a huge working-age population powering growth, as East Asia’s did — or a demographic burden if jobs and education don’t keep up. The arithmetic is unforgiving: millions enter the workforce every year. The dividend requires schools that teach, universities that skill, and an economy that hires.
For individuals, the numbers carry a simpler message: the “average” Pakistani is a young person with decades ahead — and the country’s health trajectory will decide how healthy those decades are. Our life expectancy guide goes deeper into the health side.
Detailed demographic guides
Every angle of the “average age” question, in depth.
Life expectancy in Pakistan
The full picture: trends, gender gap, regional comparison and health drivers.
Average life expectancy in Pakistan
What “average” means, how it’s calculated, and why it misleads.
Average life in Pakistan
Beyond the statistic: the factors shaping how long Pakistanis live.
Average lifespan in Pakistan
Lifespan vs life expectancy vs healthy lifespan — the distinctions that matter.
The population pyramid: Pakistan’s age structure
What “young” looks like in numbers.
| Age group | Share of population (approx.) | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0–14 years | ~36% | More than a third of Pakistanis are children — schools first |
| 15–29 years | ~27% | The youth bulge: education-to-employment pipeline |
| 30–64 years | ~33% | The working-age core, still growing fast |
| 65+ years | ~4% | A small elderly share — for now; it will double by mid-century |
Fertility: the engine of youth
Why Pakistan stays young.
Pakistan’s total fertility rate — about 3.4–3.5 children per woman — has fallen from around 6 in the 1990s but remains well above replacement (2.1) and above Bangladesh’s (~2.0) and India’s (~2.0). High fertility plus falling child mortality is the classic recipe for a youth bulge: each generation is bigger than the last. Demographers expect the bulge to crest around mid-century, when today’s children reach old age — giving Pakistan roughly two to three decades to convert youth into prosperity before ageing begins.
The policy levers are well known: girls’ education (the strongest predictor of lower fertility), family planning access, and — above all — jobs. A young population with work is a dividend; without it, a risk. See what shapes average life for the health side of the equation.
The dependency question
How many mouths each worker feeds.
With ~36% of the population under 15 and only ~4% over 65, Pakistan’s dependency ratio is high: relatively few workers support many children. That is expensive now — schools, healthcare, food — but it is also temporary. As today’s children enter the workforce over the next 15 years, the ratio will fall and Pakistan will enter its demographic window: the decades when the worker-to-dependent ratio is most favourable. East Asia’s boom happened inside exactly such a window; sub-Saharan Africa is entering one now.
Windows close. The countries that prospered used theirs for education and industrialisation; those that didn’t got unemployment instead. Pakistan’s window is opening — the next twenty years decide what it becomes.
What Pakistan’s age structure means for the future
A median age of 21 is a forecast — of pressure and possibility.
The schooling surge
Millions more children will need classrooms this decade. The 26-million out-of-school backlog plus new cohorts make education the defining infrastructure challenge — bigger than roads.
The jobs race
Roughly 4 million young Pakistanis reach working age each year. The economy must create formal jobs at a pace it has never managed — or the dividend becomes a grievance.
The ageing horizon
Pakistan is young now, but fertility is falling (~3.5 and declining). By mid-century the pyramid bulges upward — today’s youth bulge is tomorrow’s elderly boom. Pension and health systems must be built now.
How to read Pakistan’s population pyramid
The chart that explains the country.
Pakistan’s population pyramid is a true pyramid — wide at the bottom (many children), narrowing steadily with age. Contrast Japan’s (a rectangle) or Germany’s (top-heavy): the shape tells you the development stage at a glance.
Reading it: the base width shows fertility (wide = high births); the slope shows mortality (steep drop = high child/adult mortality); asymmetries between male and female bars reveal migration or mortality gaps. Pakistan’s pyramid shows a slightly male-heavy youth — typical of South Asia.
Watch the pyramid over decades: as fertility falls, the base narrows and the shape becomes a beehive — the demographic transition in one image. Pakistan is early in that transition; the pyramid will dominate policy for a generation.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most.
What is the average age in Pakistan?
What is the life expectancy in Pakistan in 2024?
Is Pakistan’s population young or old?
Why is life expectancy lower in Pakistan than Bangladesh?
What is the median age of Pakistan?
Is Pakistan’s population still growing?
What percentage of Pakistan’s population is youth?
What is the population of Pakistan in 2026?
How fast is Pakistan’s population growing?
Pakistan in numbers.
Bookmark this hub — demographics, health data and trends, updated from World Bank, UN and WHO releases.
Feature Pakistan reports demographic data from primary sources (World Bank, UN World Population Prospects, WHO). Figures are rounded; see the linked guides for methodology notes.