Juliette Gagliardi
Junior Researcher
State of health in Europe - Statistics & Facts
Europe is one of the continents with the highest average life expectancy at birth as of 2023, second only to Oceania, with a life expectancy of 81 years for women and 75 for men. When considering the different regions across Europe, Western and Southern Europe have the highest average life expectancy for those who were born in 2022. However, the high life expectancy in Europe is not reflected in the percentage of Europeans considering themselves very healthy or healthy, which in 2022 reached 70 percent of the population, the lowest share recorded across the globe. Moreover, Europeans appear to be less and less satisfied with their own country’s healthcare system, with the percentage of people expressing a general satisfaction for their healthcare system decreasing from 74 percent in 2020 to 61 percent in 2023.
Risk factors and behaviors
When considering risk factors and risk behaviors, which hinder a healthy life style and are associated with the rising number of people affected by chronic diseases, tendencies change greatly across countries in Europe. For example, when it comes to daily smokers, Bulgaria has the highest rate with almost 30 percent of its population, while Nordic countries record the lowest rates of smoking in Europe, with shares between 7.2 and 12 percent. When it comes to lack of exercise and participation in sports, as well as general insufficient physical activity, Portugal records the highest shares. As of 2020, the country with the highest share of overweight or obese males was Iceland, while Turkey had the highest share of overweight or obese females, with 55.2 percent.Cancer
In 2022, over 1.2 million people in Europe died from cancer, with lung, bronchus and trachea carcinoma being among the deadliest types. During that year, Denmark was the European country with the highest cancer incidence, with 728.5 people per 100,000 population having cancer. The number of cancer cases in 2022 in the EU amounted to almost 2.7 million, with breast cancer accounting for the highest number of cases, with almost 355.5 thousand, closely followed by colorectum and prostate cancer cases. Cyprus was the European country with the highest breast cancer incidence, followed by Belgium and France.Mental health
Lately, cases of depression have been growing in Europe, especially after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to economic declines and increasing social stress. As a matter of fact, almost 60 percent of women in 2022 were at risk of depression across Europe. This share was 50 percent among men. Young adults were the most at risk, as well as people with financial difficulties.
