Where in the EU do people enjoy the longest, healthiest lives?

When it comes to living a long and healthy life, Malta is the best country in the European Union, according to new data from Eurostat.

With Europeans living longer than ever and the population ageing rapidly, quality of life in old age is a key concern.

Healthy life expectancy measures the number of years the average person will live without disabilities or limitations in their daily lives – offering a glimpse at how well EU countries are supporting their citizens’ ability to stay healthy as they age.

According to the new analysis, which uses 2022 data, the Mediterranean island nation Malta came out on top for both men and women. Women in Malta can expect 70.3 healthy life years, while men can expect 70.1 such years.

Malta boasts nearly universal health coverage, and older adults are less likely to have chronic health conditions than elsewhere in the EU.

For women, the next best countries for healthy life years are Bulgaria (68.9), Slovenia (68.5), Italy (67.8), and Greece (67.8).

Meanwhile, Sweden (67.5), Italy (67.1), Greece (66.2), Cyprus (65.7), and Ireland (65.2) round out the top five for men.

On the other side of the spectrum, Denmark is the worst country for women hoping to enter old age healthily. While the Nordic country has a strong public health system, cancer rates are higher there than in other EU countries.

Danish women can expect 54.6 healthy life years, followed by Latvia (55.4), the Netherlands (56.3), Finland (56.5), Portugal (58), and Slovakia (58).

For men, Latvia ranked worst (53 healthy life years), followed by Slovakia (56.6), Denmark (57.1), Estonia (58), and Lithuania (58.2).

Overall, there are eight countries where people shouldn’t expect to be healthy into their 60s: Latvia, Denmark, Slovakia, Finland, the Netherlands, Romania, Portugal, and Estonia.

Women tend to live longer than men, and on average across the EU, women could expect 62.8 healthy life years compared to men’s 62.4 years.

Healthy life years make up 75 per cent of women’s life expectancy and 80 per cent of men’s life expectancy, meaning that while men tend to live shorter lives, they spend less time in poor health later in life, the report said.

The greater number of healthy life years in some countries doesn’t necessarily mean that overall life expectancy is higher.

Bulgaria, for example – a top country for both men and women when it comes to healthy ageing – has the lowest overall life expectancy among EU countries, at 75.8 years.