According to preliminary 2024 data, life expectancy at birth in the EU was 81.7 years, up 0.3 years compared with 2023.
This information comes from the provisional data on life expectancy published by Eurostat today.
In 15 countries, life expectancy exceeded the EU average, with the highest life expectancy recorded in Italy and Sweden (both 84.1 years) and Spain (84.0 years).
By contrast, the lowest life expectancy was recorded in Bulgaria (75.9 years), Romania (76.6 years) and Latvia (76.7 years).
Source dataset: demo_mlexpec
When compared with the pre-pandemic level in 2019, out of the 26 EU countries for which preliminary data are available, 24 countries experienced an increase in life expectancy in 2024. The largest increases have been observed in Lithuania (+1.1 year), Czechia, Latvia and Romania (+1.0 years each).
The Netherlands was the only country that recorded a decline (-0.2 years), life expectancy remained stable in Spain, while France had a slight increase of 0.1 years.
Source dataset: demo_mlexpec