A cause of death study published in The Lancet journal on Thursday revealed that South Africa is one of 11 countries worldwide where life expectancy fell between 1990 and last year.
In this period life expectancy for men fell from 60.5 to 57.7 years, and women from 68.9 to 63.
These figures stand in contrast to the global average of people living 6.2 years longer than in 1990. Life expectancy is now an average of just under 72 years globally.
The number three cause of death in South Africa is injury and violence.
HIV/Aids and tuberculosis tops the list.
Out of the 188 countries examined, South Africa ranked 162nd for women’s life expectancy and 169th for men last year.
According to the World Fact book South Africa with an estimated 49.56 years rank number 222 out of 223 countries for life expectancy at birth.
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