Unequal Lives: A Comparative Analysis of Life Expectancy Across South Asian Countries Using ANOVA

The current research explores differences in life expectancy among South Asian nations viz., Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka through statistical methods like Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Tukey HSD post-hoc tests. Life expectancy, an important indicator of development and public health, was examined through secondary data from the years 2004 to 2024 obtained from credible online databases. The ANOVA test indicated that there exists a statistically significant difference in the mean life expectancy between the nations at the 5% level of significance, suggesting that country-level determinants are influential in determining health outcomes. The subsequent pairwise comparisons by the Tukey HSD test also verified that each pair of nations has significant mean differences in life expectancy. Other nations, including Maldives and Sri Lanka, always recorded higher life expectancy levels, with likely increased long-term investment in healthcare, education, and infrastructure. By contrast, nations like Afghanistan and Pakistan recorded lower averages, possibly due to war, lack of resources, and lack of access to essential services. Adding Bangladesh to the analysis added richness, as there were remarkable improvements through community-based public health programs. These results put the necessity for policy action in lower-performing countries into stark relief and offer a comparative focus through which to comprehend and act to redress regional health disparities.