In the year 2022, life expectancy at birth in the European Union revealed a marked gender difference, with women living 5.4 years longer than men. While women reached an average of 83.3 years, men recorded 77.9 years. This evident difference prevailed in all level 2 regions of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 2) where data was accessed.
In Spain, the Community of Madrid led in terms of female life expectancy, recording 87.7 years. The Autonomous Community of Navarre and Castile and León followed with figures of 86.9 and 86.7 years respectively. In stark contrast, in the outermost region of Mayotte, France, women had the lowest life expectancy, with 74.4 years, followed by the Bulgarian regions of Northwestern, North Central, and Southeastern, with 76.4, 77.0, and 77.6 years respectively.
As for men, the Community of Madrid not only stood out by reaching 82.4 years of life expectancy, but also the regions of Autonomous Province of Trento in Italy and Stockholm in Sweden presented high figures, with 82.3 years each. However, there are areas where male life expectancy is considerably lower, even falling below 70 years. Northwestern in Bulgaria had the lowest figure, with 68.7 years, followed by Latvia with 69.4 years and North Central in Bulgaria with 69.6 years.
Significant gender differences were observed in the Baltic countries, as well as in certain regions of Poland and Romania. Latvia showed the widest disparity, with a 10-year difference between women and men. On the other hand, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Sweden exhibited narrower gaps, with Mayotte in France being the region with the smallest disparity, just 0.4 years of difference.
These findings not only emphasize the variability of longevity among different regions of Europe, but also reveal the persistent impact of gender differences on life expectancy. They also reflect the urgent need to implement health policies that respond to the local realities of each community.
Referrer: MiMub in Spanish
