According to preliminary 2023 data published by Eurostat May 3, life expectancy at birth in the EU was 81.5 years, up by 0.9 years from 2022, and 0.2 years compared with the pre-pandemic level in 2019.
However, Latvia records the second-lowest lfe expectancy in the whole European Union.
In 15 countries, life expectancy exceeded the EU average, with the highest life expectancy recorded for Spain (84.0 years), Italy (83.8 years) and Malta (83.6 years).
Latvia’s figure is dragged down by the relatively short lives of Latvian males. Latvian men can expect to live to 70.8 years on average, while Latvian women live a full decade longer – 80.8 years.
The lowest life expectancy was recorded for Bulgaria (75.8 years), Latvia (75.9) and Romania (76.6).
When compared with the pre-pandemic level in 2019, 18 EU countries experienced an increase in life expectancy in 2023, while 2 countries remained stable, and 6 saw a decrease. The largest increase has been estimated in Romania ( 1.0 year), followed by Lithuania ( 0.8 years), Bulgaria, Czechia, Luxembourg and Malta (all with a rise of 0.7 years).
Conversely, Austria and Finland recorded the largest decreases (-0.4 years each), followed by Estonia and the Netherlands (-0.2 years).
