Eurostat published its latest data on estimated life expectancy on Friday (3 May) and there is good news: We have gained an extra 0.9 years on 2022. 

The ‘average’ European can now hope to live to the grand old age of 81.5 years. With this, the EU has returned to and slightly exceeded (by 0.2 years) its pre-pandemic life expectancy.

There are some marked differences among EU countries when you look at the national level.

In 15 countries, life expectancy exceeded the EU average, with the highest life expectancy recorded in Spain (84.0 years), Italy (83.8 years), and Malta (83.6 years).

By contrast, the lowest life expectancy was recorded for Bulgaria (75.8 years), Latvia (75.9), and Romania (76.6).

The movers and the shakers are Romania (+1.0 year), followed by Lithuania (+0.8 years), Bulgaria, Czechia, Luxembourg, and Malta (all with a rise of +0.7 years).

Surprisingly, Austria and Finland recorded the largest decreases (-0.4 years each), followed by Estonia and the Netherlands (-0.2 years). Eurostat does not offer any explanation for the changes.

The EU has now returned to and slightly exceeded (0.2) its pre-pandemic life expectancy.

The figures are based on weekly deaths data extracted on 30 April 2024.

There is a small gap between men and women, with men rebounding by 0.4 compared to 0.2 for women since 2019.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

Source: Euractiv.com