Eurostat: The expectation of a healthy life for men and women in the EU – What is happening in Greece

The number of healthy years a person lives in the EU, from birth, was 64.5 years for women and 63.5 years for men in 2020, according to a Eurostat survey on the healthy life expectancy of men and women in EU.

Life expectancy in 2020 for women in the EU was on average 5.7 years higher than that of men (83.2 years versus 77.5 years).

The years of healthy living represent 78% and 82% of the total life expectancy for women and men, respectively.

Therefore, on average, men tend to spend most of their somewhat shorter lives without activity restrictions due to health issues.

Sweden first

Among EU Member States, Sweden recorded the highest number of healthy living years in 2020 for women (72.7 years), followed by Malta (70.7 years) and Italy (68.7 years). The highest numbers for men were also recorded in the same three countries: Sweden (72.8), Malta (70.2) and Italy (67.2).

On the contrary, the Latvia had the lowest number of years of healthy living for both women (54.3 years) and men (52.6 years).

The extreme prices can be partly explained by the way in which the restriction of activity in the country is measured, affecting the results to some extent, notes Eurostat.

The number of years of healthy living was higher for women than for men in 20 EU Member States, with the gender gap being generally relatively small.

In seven EU Member States, the gap was over 2 years, with the largest differences being recorded in Bulgaria (+4.2 years), Estonia (+4.1 years) and Poland (+4.0 years) .

On the other hand, the number of years of healthy living for women was lower than for men in six EU Member States. The largest differences were observed in the Netherlands (-2.8 years), Portugal (-2.1 years) and Finland (-1.8 years).

In Spain, the same number of years of healthy living were recorded for both women and men.

What is happening in Greece

Greece is high on the expectation of a healthy life, both for men and women.

The average healthy life of Greek women is 66.8 yearsa number that ranks our country in 6th place on an equal footing with Germany.

For men, the expectation of a healthy life is at 65 yearsa fact that again ranks Greece in 6th place at EU level, above Germany.

Finally, it is noteworthy that in Greece the inhabitants have a longer life expectancy even than the inhabitants of more developed and powerful countries such as France and the Netherlands, while the Mediterranean states with the exception of the pioneer Sweden, provide more years of healthy life for their inhabitants.