By Sudesh Baniya，Published on 10/11/2023，编辑/ky
As the continent faces an ageing population, life expectancy has become one of the key policy-making considerations.
According to 2021 data, the average life expectancy in Europe is 80.1 years, but applying this data to the continent as a whole would be misleading.
The latest statistics released this week by Eurostat show that there are differences in average life expectancy between 69 and 85 years across the continent.
Of the 242 NUTS 2 regions (EU criteria for economic zoning), Severozapazen in the northern region of Bulgaria has the lowest average life expectancy at 69.7 years, while the Madrid region of Spain has the highest average life expectancy at 85.4 years.
Higher life expectancy is possible by improved living standards, improved lifestyles, better education and access to quality health services, while lower life expectancy reflects the inadequacy of these factors.
In all statistics, life expectancy is generally higher for women, with the average life expectancy of women in Europe being 5.7 years longer than that of men.
At the national level, Liechtenstein maintained the highest life expectancy at 84.4 years in 2021. The average life expectancy at birth is 83.9 years in Switzerland, followed by 83.3 years in Spain and 83.2 years in Finland.
Until 2019, life expectancy in Europe had been increasing relatively steadily, reaching 81.3 years. However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a record decline in life expectancy in recent years.
The 2021 figure is a further decrease from the 2020 life expectancy of 80.4 years.
Experts believe that this decline will eventually disappear thanks to the decline in infant mortality and easier access to higher living standards.
Countries with high HDI scores generally perform well in terms of life expectancy, which is also reflected in the country-wide statistics.
What does this data tell us? According to the World Health Organization, life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn can live and depends on the mortality rate by sex and age in a given year in a particular country, region, or geographic region.
This indicator is often seen as an important tool for tracking social welfare and is the basis for government policy.
France, for example, is facing the challenge of increasing the life expectancy of its population, putting pressure on social security and health care systems.
In response to this challenge, the French government passed a series of reforms earlier this year aimed at raising the retirement age and encouraging people to work longer. The decision sparked nationwide protests.
But France is not the only country facing an ageing population, and the French do not have the highest life expectancy in Europe. Across Europe, life expectancy indicators have been on the rise for decades.