Life expectancy in the EU is rising - Luxembourg among the leaders
Planet Volumes, Unsplash
According to fresh data from Eurostat, life expectancy at birth in the EU in 2023 will be 81.4 years - 0.8 years more than in 2022. This value exceeded for the first time the pre-pandemic level of 2019, when the figure was 81.3 years. The EU has thus offset the effects of COVID-19, which led to a decline in this indicator in 2020-2021.
It's also the highest level since 2002, with a gain of nearly 4 years in two decades.
Southern European regions remain the leaders in longevity: the Comunidad de Madrid (86.1 years), followed by Provincia Autonoma di Trento (85.1), Åland in Finland (85.1), Comunidad Foral de Navarra and Bolzano/Bozen (85.0 each).
At the other end of the spectrum are the regions with the lowest life expectancy: Severozapaden in Bulgaria (73.9 years), Észak-Magyarország in Hungary (74.9) and Mayotte in France (74.9).
Of particular note is Luxembourg, where life expectancy has reached 83.4 years - well above the EU average. This confirms the country's sustainable position in terms of healthcare and quality of life.
Women in the EU have an average age of 84 years, while men have an average age of 78.7 years, a difference of 5.3 years. The largest gender gap is observed in Latvia (10.1 years), Lithuania (9.0) and Estonia (8.8), and the lowest in the Netherlands (3 years), Sweden and Luxembourg (3.3 years each).
Increasing life expectancy is an important demographic indicator, but it poses new challenges for the EU, from the pension system to health care. Luxembourg, while strengthening its position in terms of quality of life, remains at the top of the European longevity scale.
