Romania, the biggest increase in life expectancy in the EU in recent years. The countries we passed

Even though our country recorded the greatest increase in terms of life expectancy at birth, Romania still occupies one of the last places in this statistic. Thus, our country surpasses only Bulgaria and Lithuania in this ranking, led by Spain, the EU country with the highest life expectancy.

Romania, the biggest increase in life expectancy in the EU

According to preliminary data in 2023, life expectancy at birth in the EU was 81.5 years, up 0.9 years from 2022 and 0.2 years from the pre-pandemic level in 2019. The biggest increase was estimated in Romania (+1.0 year), followed by Lithuania (+0.8 year), Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Malta (all with an increase of +0.7 year).

Austria and Finland recorded the largest decreases (-0.4 years each), followed by Estonia and the Netherlands (-0.2 years). In total, six countries saw a decline in life expectancy, including Germany, the EU’s strongest economy.

Compared to the pre-pandemic level in 2019, 18 EU countries saw an increase in life expectancy in 2023, while two countries remained stable (Spain and Croatia). The countries where life expectancy decreased were: Austria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands.

Romania on one of the last places

Despite this growth registered by our country, Romania is still in one of the last places in the EU in terms of life expectancy. According to Eurostat data, the lowest life expectancy was recorded in Bulgaria (75.8 years), Latvia (75.9) and Romania (76.6).

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).

Thus, arranged in descending order, life expectancy in the EU states is as follows: Spain (84 years), Italy (83.8 years), Malta (83.6), Sweden (83.4), Luxembourg (83.4 ), France (83.1), Belgium (82.5), Cyprus (82.5), Portugal (82.4), Netherlands (82), Slovenia (82), Denmark (81.9), Finland (81 ,7), Greece (81.6), Austria (81.6), Germany (81.2), Czech Republic (80); Estonia (78.8), Croatia (78.8), Poland (78.6), Slovakia (78.1), Lithuania (77.3), Hungary (76.9), Romania (76.6), Latvia (75.9) and Bulgaria (75.8).

Life expectancy at birth represents the average number of years a newborn would live if subjected to current mortality conditions (observed mortality rates for the current period) for the rest of their lives. It should be noted that life expectancy is a period indicator of mortality, indicating the average length of life in a population subject to the mortality rates of the selected time period.

This means that the life expectancy above would apply if the mortality conditions observed in 2023 persist for all subsequent years until the cohort born in 2023 is gone. Provisional estimates for 2023 are based on weekly death data drawn on 30 April 2024 .