Life expectancy at birth for women in the European Union was on average 5.4 years longer than for men (83.3 years compared to 77.9 years), according to Eurostat data.
Years of good health, without activity limitations, account for 75% and 80% of the total life expectancy for women and men, respectively. Therefore, on average, men tend to spend a larger part of their slightly shorter lives without activity limitations.
Among EU countries, in 2022, Malta recorded the highest number of so-called years of good health at birth for women (70.3 years), ahead of Bulgaria (68.9 years) and Slovenia (68.5 years).
On the other hand, Denmark had the fewest years of good health for women (54.6 years), followed by Latvia (55.4 years) and the Netherlands (56.3 years).
For men, the most years of good health were recorded in Malta (70.1 years), followed by Sweden (67.5) and Italy (67.1), while the fewest were in Latvia (53 years), Slovakia (56.6 years), and Denmark (57.1 years).