Global Morbidity Gap Increased 21.9 Percent From 1990 to 2023

THURSDAY, July 23, 2026 (HealthDay News) — The global morbidity gap increased from 1990 to 2023, according to a study published in the August issue of The Lancet Public Health.

Simon I. Hay, D.Sc., from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues comprehensively estimated changes in the morbidity gap globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2023 using Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2023 estimates of life expectancy and healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth for 204 countries and territories. The morbidity gap was calculated as life expectancy minus HALE.

The researchers found that the global morbidity gap increased from 8.8 to 10.7 years from 1990 to 2023, a 21.9 percent increase, with widening morbidity gaps suggested in 203 of 204 countries and territories. An average of 14.5 percent of life was spent in poor health globally in 2023 compared with 13.6 percent in 1990. Age-specific morbidity gaps widened across the adult life course across locations from 1990 to 2023, rather than concentrating in the final years of life. Morbidity gaps were largest and smallest in the high and low sociodemographic index quintiles, respectively, in 2023. The primary contributors to the morbidity gap were a small number of chronic, largely nonfatal causes, with musculoskeletal disease, mental disorders, sense organ diseases, unintentional injuries, and other noncommunicable diseases accounting for 57.4 percent of unhealthy years globally in 2023.

“Our findings suggest that future gains in population health will come not only from helping people live longer, but from helping them live healthier,” senior author Christopher J.L. Murray, D.Phil., also from the University of Washington, said in a statement.

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