(27 April 2022) – In 2020, the life expectancy at birth in the EU was 80.4 years. This figure was 5.7 years higher for women (83.2 years) than men (77.5 years). In fact, female life expectancy was higher than male life expectancy in every region.
Compared with 2019, the life expectancy at birth experienced a decrease (-0.9 years). Men experienced a larger decrease in life expectancy (-1.0 years) than women (-0.8 years). However, this reduction in life expectancy at birth is related to the sudden increase in mortality in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, the regions in the EU with the highest levels of life expectancy at birth were located in France, Spain, Italy and Greece.
The EU region with the highest life expectancy at birth was the French island of Corsica (84.0), followed by the Balearic Islands in Spain (83.9) and the Epirus region in Greece (83.8).
On the other hand, the EU regions with the lowest life expectancy at birth were all in Bulgaria: North-West (72.1), North-Central (72.8), and North and South-East Bulgaria (72.9).