MUSCAT: Data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the country’s healthy life expectancy at birth rose to 68.2 years in 2023, up from 63.2 years in 2021, marking an increase of five years and exceeding the Oman Vision 2040 target set for 2030.
The latest figure is 1.2 years above the national target of 67 years set for 2030, while the country is now 1.8 years away from achieving its 2040 target of 70 years.
Oman’s performance also exceeded the global average of 62.8 years by 5.4 years and the Eastern Mediterranean regional average of 60.4 years by 7.8 years, based on 2023 estimates.
The improvement comes as countries continue to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with restoring lost years of healthy life remaining a global challenge.
In its latest estimates, issued on October 2, 2026, the WHO reported that global healthy life expectancy remained 0.4 years below its pre-pandemic level in 2019. The organisation also highlighted the growing impact of non-communicable diseases and mental health disorders.
The progress recorded by Oman underscores the importance of continued investment in the healthcare system, particularly in prevention, early detection, reducing years lived with illness, and improving the quality of treatment, rehabilitation and integrated care.
It also highlights the need to strengthen health-supporting policies across sectors, including education, employment, the environment and urban planning, alongside greater community participation in maintaining health gains.
Raising health awareness, encouraging physical activity and balanced nutrition, avoiding tobacco use, promoting screening services and strengthening the monitoring of chronic diseases are among the measures that contribute to improving population health.
The Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth (HALE) indicator combines life expectancy with information on health status to estimate the average number of years a person is expected to live in full health, taking into account the effects of diseases and injuries.
The indicator does not mean that every individual will live to 68.2 years without experiencing illness. Rather, it is a statistical estimate at the population level, used to inform health policies and establish priorities.
It provides a broader measure of health progress beyond life expectancy alone, focusing on people’s ability to live longer, healthier lives while remaining active, independent and engaged in family and community life.