Mexico vs South Africa: Potential years of life lost

Mexico
8,732 Years per 100 000 persons
in 2023
South Africa
17,551 Years per 100 000 persons
in 2020
Mexico rank
3rd
South Africa rank
1st

Potential years of life lost over time

  • Mexico
  • South Africa
10.0k20.0k30.0k40.0k196019912023

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 17,551 Years per 100 000 persons against 8,732 Years per 100 000 persons in Mexico, a difference of 8,819 Years per 100 000 persons.

That makes South Africa's figure about 2.0 times Mexico's.

Across all 28 years both countries report, South Africa has been ahead every year.

Mexico ranks 3rd and South Africa ranks 1st of 36 countries.

South Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Mexico South Africa Difference Ahead
1990s 10,767 Years per 100 000 persons 20,033 Years per 100 000 persons 9,266 Years per 100 000 persons South Africa
2000s 9,008 Years per 100 000 persons 34,201 Years per 100 000 persons 25,193 Years per 100 000 persons South Africa
2010s 8,755 Years per 100 000 persons 22,045 Years per 100 000 persons 13,290 Years per 100 000 persons South Africa
2020s 12,801 Years per 100 000 persons 17,551 Years per 100 000 persons 4,750 Years per 100 000 persons South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher potential years of life lost, Mexico or South Africa?
South Africa, at 17,551 Years per 100 000 persons against 8,732 Years per 100 000 persons in Mexico as of 2020.
What is the difference in potential years of life lost between Mexico and South Africa?
8,819 Years per 100 000 persons, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Mexico and South Africa?
28 years are reported by both, from 1993 to 2020.
How do Mexico and South Africa rank globally for potential years of life lost?
Mexico ranks 3rd and South Africa ranks 1st of 36 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Potential years of life lost. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Mexico vs South Africa: Potential years of life lost. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 22 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/potential-years-of-life-lost/mexico/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Potential years of life lost
Unit
Years per 100 000 persons
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
46 places, 2,490 data points, 1960–2024
Last refreshed

Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) is a summary measure of premature mortality which provides an explicit way of weighting deaths occurring at younger ages, which are, a priori, preventable. The calculation of PYLL involves summing up deaths occurring at each age and multiplying this with the number of remaining years to live up to a selected age limit. The limit of 75 years has been chosen for the calculations in OECD Health Statistics. The selected ICD categories presented in the OECD Health Statistics database are detailed in an Excel file available for download, with codes according to the Tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) along with codes from other ICD revisions used in the WHO Mortality Database. Please refer to the Sources and Methods for detailed country-specific information.