United Nations World Health Organization or WHO in its annual report on Thursday said life expectancy in the world poorest countries rose by an average of nine years over the past two decades due to improvements in infant health.
It said six of the countries managed to raise life expectancy to over 10 years between 1990 and 2012 with Liberia as the top achiever, where average life spans increased by 20 years from 42 to 62.
The second was Ethiopia rose from 45 to 64 years, Maldives 58 to 77, Cambodia 54 to 72, East Timor 50 to 66 and Rwanda 48 to 65.
WHO Chief Margaret Chan attributed the global life expectancy improvement to better health condition as fewer children die before their fifth birthday.
She said globally a girl born in 2012 can expect to live to around 73 years and a boy to 68 years.
She said there is still a major rich-poor divide where people in high-income countries continue to have a chance of living longer than people in low-income countries.
The reported said a boy born in high-income country can expect to live to the age of around 76, 16 years longer than a boy born in a low-income country.
For girls, the difference is wider, those in high-income countries likely to live to the age of 82 and those in poor nations to 63.