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Key Takeaways
- “Healthiest country” rankings tend to focus on a nation’s current health conditions and systems, while longevity rankings reflect decades of habits and policies.
- You don’t need to move abroad to live longer: Research on long-lived populations points to habits you can adopt anywhere—daily movement, strong social ties, and preventive care.
You might assume the “world’s healthiest country” is also where people live the longest. It’s not that simple. Singapore and Taiwan top recent health index rankings, but Japan still leads in raw life expectancy at 84.5 years, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). What Singapore does lead in is healthy life expectancy—the years you spend in good health, not just being alive. Singaporeans can expect 73.6 healthy years, edging past Japan’s 73.4, WHO data says.
The difference matters when planning for retirement, considering destinations to live abroad, or simply trying to determine what actually adds years to your life.
What ‘Healthiest Country’ Actually Measures
When publications like CEO World rank Taiwan, Singapore, and Israel among the world’s healthiest countries, they’re scoring them on factors such as healthy life expectancy, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, obesity rates, depression prevalence, government healthcare spending, and others.
Different indexes use similar data but weight factors differently, which is why rankings vary and no single list tells the whole story. These metrics reflect a nation’s current performance, whereas life expectancy reflects the cumulative impact of past habits and policies over several decades. A country can score well now but still lag in longevity because older generations faced higher smoking rates or weaker care.
Tip
The “blue zones” idea—places where unusually high numbers of people supposedly live past 100 thanks to healthy habits like a Mediterranean diet—has dominated popular thinking about longevity. But newer analyses suggest these longevity claims owe less to lifestyle and more to bad recordkeeping that dramatically inflated the number of centenarians.
Where People Actually Live the Longest
Life expectancy rankings tell a simpler but slower-moving story. According to the WHO, Japan leads major nations at 84.5 years, followed by Singapore (83.9 years), South Korea (83.8 years), and Switzerland (83.3 years).
The key gap is between total years lived and healthy years lived. Singapore leads at 73.6 healthy years; Japan is close behind at 73.4. South Korea posts 72.5, highlighting that living longer doesn’t always mean living well longer.
Taiwan, which CEO World ranked first, has a life expectancy of 80.8 years—nearly four years behind Japan—and a healthy life expectancy of 71.4 years, showing how ranking No. 1 for current health doesn’t automatically mean you’ll outlive everyone else.
Sean Gallup / Getty Images
What the Top Countries Have in Common
The countries topping both health and longevity rankings—Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, etc.—don’t share a single magic ingredient. But they do have common policies that researchers have linked to better outcomes.
Healthcare is mandatory and prevention-focused: Japan requires annual health exams, including waist measurements, for all workers. South Korea’s national health insurance covers almost the entire population, with widespread cancer screening and mandatory vaccinations.
Movement is built into daily life: Policies in Singapore, Switzerland, and Japan make walking and public transit the default.
Diet patterns favor plants, fish, and fermented foods—but aren’t vegetarian: Japan’s traditional diet emphasizes rice, vegetables, fish, and fermented foods like miso and natto. South Korea’s diet includes kimchi and legumes. Singapore’s Health Promotion Board subsidizes healthier options and taxes high-sugar beverages.
The healthiest countries generally have the highest life expectancies, but no single place consistently dominates every ranking. What matters more is whether your environment supports you in eating well, staying active, accessing care early, and maintaining social connections.
Why This Matters for Your Retirement Math
The gap between total and healthy life expectancy matters for retirement planning. Those final 10 to 12 years often bring higher costs—long-term care, home health aides, and uncovered medical expenses.
Fidelity estimates that a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2025 will need about $172,500 for health care expenses alone—and that figure assumes traditional Medicare, not long-term care.
You can’t stop aging, but you can borrow habits from healthier countries—regular checkups, preventive care, daily movement—and treat your health as much a part of your retirement plan as what you do with your 401(k).
