In 2023, 47.1% of individuals aged 65 or over in the EU were vaccinated against influenza, down from 48.4% in 2022.
Among EU countries, Denmark reported the highest vaccination rate for people aged 65 or over at 77.5%, followed by Ireland (75.7%) and Portugal (71.8%). By contrast, Poland (9.6%), Slovakia (11.7%) and Bulgaria (15.2%) had the lowest rates.
Bulgaria had the biggest increase in vaccination rates of people aged 65 or over (+46.2%) compared with 2022, ahead of Lithuania (+12.1%) and Poland (+11.6%). At the other end of the scale, Cyprus (-30.1%), Sweden (-10.0%) and Estonia (-9.5%) had the biggest declines.
Source dataset: hlth_ps_immu
Vaccination rates against influenza for people aged 65 or over have varied over the years in the EU. The highest rate was recorded at the beginning of this time series, 52.4% in 2009. In contrast, the lowest rate of 39.9% was observed in 2015. More recently, there was a boost in influenza vaccination rates to 50.7% in 2021, before a slight decline to 48.4% in 2022.