Data on the Healthy Life Years in the European Union

A Healthy Life Years (HLY) improvement is the main health goal for the EU. At present HLY at birth in the EU is, on average, 15 years shorter than overall life expectancy for men and 20 years shorter for women.
The data calculated by Eurostat for the year 2009 shows clear differences between Member States in life expectancies without disability. As a whole men in the EU27 were expected to live 79.7% of their life without disability in 2008. In 2009 men in Malta could expect to live 88.9% of their life without disability, men in Sweden 88.8%, Bulgaria 88.4%, Norway 87.6%, Iceland 86.1%, Romania 85.3% and Lithuania 84.4%. Women in the EU27 could expect to live 75.2% of their lives free of disability in 2008. In 2009 Healthy Life Years in percentage of life expectancy for women were beyond 81% in Malta (85.3%), Bulgaria (84.8%), Sweden (83.3%), Iceland (82.3%) and Norway (81.5%).
Some suggest that life expectancy has reached its limits; however, there is no evidence for this. Female life expectancy has risen for 160 years at a rate of 3 months per year. In 1840 the longest survivors were Swedish women who lived an average of 45 years, while now the life expectancy of French, Italian and Spanish women is around 85 years. Before 1950 most of the gain was due to a reduction in premature deaths. In recent decades it has been due to an improvement in the survival of people over 65. The old notion that even under favorable circumstances human beings have a characteristic lifespan is now being challenged. The enduring belief that the ceiling is finally about to be reached has repeatedly been disproved over the last 100 years. If the current trend of life expectancy increasing by 2.5 years per decade persists, the average lifespan may be 100 years by 2070.
The disability burden expressed in health-care expenditure (in kind and in cash) and pensions is a major proportion of national expenditure. Increasing age and life years spent in poor health mean greater medical needs in particular with regard to pathologies such as degenerative vascular diseases, cancer, and Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. The sick elderly are a greater financial commitment than their healthy counterparts. If the retirement age is to be raised, people must be physically able to work and enjoy healthy life years.
The percentage of the population aged 65 and over, which started to rise sharply from the latter part of the last century, is continuing to rise. In 2008, 17% of the EU27 population were aged 65 and over (countries ranging from 11% to 20%), and this is likely to rise to around 24% by 2030 (Source: Eurostat, EUROPOP2008 convergence scenario).
Trends over time on Healthy Life Years and Life expectancy are also available from the Heidi data tool:
See Healthy life years at birth and at 65, by gender
See Life expectancy at birth and at age 65, by gender




Directorate General Health & Consumers
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