Effects of Socioeconomic Factors on Nigeria’s Life Expectancy at Birth

Life expectancy is considered as a veritable determinant of health outcome of various nations of the world. In a bid to improve the health condition of their citizenry, several governments in the world monitor their health policies and strategies using this indicator as an evaluation tool.This study considers the effects of socioeconomic factors such the percentage of Nigeria’s government’s health expenditure of the Gross Dometic Product (GDP), the percentage of the private health expenditure of the GDP , the percentage of people with access to safe water in the population , and the percentage of people with access to basic sanitation system on the life expectancy at birth. Using the multiple linear regression model, it found that Nigeria’s government health expenditure of the Gross Dometic Product (GDP), and the percentage of the private health expenditure of the GDP at a significant level of α=0.05 do not have a significant effect on the life expectancy, but however, access to safe water in the population and basic sanitation system do have a significant effect on the country’s life expectancy at birth.

Keywords:Life expectancy at birth; Socioeconomic Factors; Health care benefits