Life expectancy at birth
Topic: Living conditions
Life expectancy at birth is 8.2 years longer in Spain than in Bulgaria.
In 2024, a child born in the EU could expect to live 81.5 years on average. That is how long it would live if, at every age, its risk of dying were the same as for people of that age in that year. It is not the average age of those who died that year, which also depends on how many old people live in a country.
- Figures for:
- 2024.
- Covers:
- the whole year.
- New data:
- once a year.
- Dataset updated:
- 25 September 2026.
The ranking
Life expectancy at birth, years
2024Over time
Life expectancy at birth in the EU, years
2014–2024Between 2014 and 2024, life expectancy rose in 27 countries.
Life expectancy at birth, years
2014 and 2024 · ranked by 2024Women and men
Among men, the gap was wider. It ranged from 71.4 years in Latvia to 82.3 years in Sweden. The gap was 10.9 years.
Among women, the gap was narrower. It ranged from 79.5 years in Bulgaria to 86.5 years in Spain. The gap was 7.0 years.
Life expectancy at birth: men and women, years
2024| Everyone | Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | 75.8 yearsBulgaria | 71.4 yearsLatvia | 79.5 yearsBulgaria |
| Highest | 84.0 yearsSpain | 82.3 yearsSweden | 86.5 yearsSpain |
| Highest − lowest | 8.2 years | 10.9 years | 7.0 years |
About the data
Life expectancy at a given age shows how many more years a person of that age would live on average if, at every age for the rest of their life, the death rates of that year held. Life expectancy at birth is that of a newborn.
Eurostat: “Life expectancy at certain ages represents the mean number of years still to be lived by a person who has reached a certain exact age, if subjected throughout the rest of his or her life to the current mortality conditions (age-specific probabilities of dying).” (source)
Deaths and population data reported by the national statistical institutes, from civil and population registers. Eurostat computes the life tables.
How to read these numbers
How it is measured
Life expectancy is calculated from the deaths of a single year. It is not a forecast of how long people born that year will actually live. It assumes that the mortality conditions of that year stay the same for the rest of a person's life.
Breaks in the series
A break in the series (flag b) means that a value is not fully comparable with the years before it. This concerns Czechia (2021), Germany (2022–2023), Italy (2019), Luxembourg (2016–2017), Poland (2020–2021), Romania (2015–2016) and the EU (2015–2017, 2019–2023).
Provisional figures
A provisional value (flag p) may still be revised. This concerns France (2024), Poland (2024) and the EU (2020–2024).
Estimates
An estimated value (flag e) was estimated, not measured or counted in full. This concerns Poland (2024), Romania (2014, 2024) and the EU (2014, 2016–2024).
Sources and data
Eurostat, Life expectancy by age and sex (demo_mlexpec). Data updated 25 September 2026, retrieved 31 October 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
Eurostat metadata · Eurostat methodology
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/demo_mlexpec?format=JSON&lang=en&age=Y_LT1&freq=A&geo=AT&geo=BE&geo=BG&geo=CY&geo=CZ&geo=DE&geo=DK&geo=EE&geo=EL&geo=ES&geo=EU27_2020&geo=FI&geo=FR&geo=HR&geo=HU&geo=IE&geo=IT&geo=LT&geo=LU&geo=LV&geo=MT&geo=NL&geo=PL&geo=PT&geo=RO&geo=SE&geo=SI&geo=SK&sex=T&unit=YRRelated stories
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