
Life expectancy in good health
Germany jumps in European comparison rankings.
Dr. S-W – 02/2019
The
average number of healthy life years at birth is 64.2 years for women and 63.5
years for men. This represents approximately 77% and 81% of the total life
expectancy for women and men respectively. It can be said that the longer life
expectancy for women (on average, 5.4 years more than men) often comes at the
expense of quality of life.
Sweden
has the highest number of healthy life years for both women and men at 73.3 and
73 years respectively, whereas Latvia has the lowest (54.9 and 52.3 years
respectively). In Germany, the figure is 67.3 years for women and 65.3 years
for men.
Thus,
an important factor for the discussion over the statutory retirement age is the
number of healthy life years past the age of 65. Here in Germany, a statistical
miracle happened. Compared to the estimate for 2010, the number of healthy
years in the 2015 estimate has risen by 3 years from approximately 9 years to approximately
12 years. The situation is similar with women. Looking deeper into the Eurostat
figures, it is evident that this miracle took place between 2014 and 2015. For
example, the healthy life expectancy of women in this period rose from 56.5 to
67.5 years, an increase of more than 10 years.