Spain's life expectancy growth stagnates and loses its leadership in the EU.

BrusselsSpain remains at the top of the list in terms of life expectancy, but in 2024 it stagnated and lost its leadership in the European Union. Last year, the average life expectancy in the state was 84 years, the same as in 2023 and the same as before the coronavirus pandemic in 2019. Thus, Spain has been slightly overtaken by Italy and Sweden, which have recorded a very substantial improvement in just one year. The transalpine country's life expectancy went from 83.5 years in 2023 to 84.1 last year; and the Scandinavian country, from 83.4 to 84.1.

However, Spain remains well above the average life expectancy of European Union member states, which stands at 81.7 years, according to the report published this Thursday by the European Commission's statistical institute, Eurostat. This figure has also improved significantly in recent academic years and compared to the years before COVID-19. The average life expectancy of residents of the European bloc in 2019 was 81.3 years, and in 2023 it was 81.4.

In 2020, during the pandemic, the average life expectancy in the EU reached 80.4 years, in 2019 it was 80.1, and in 2021 it had already climbed to 80.6. As for Spain, life expectancy was close to 82 years at the height of the pandemic. In 2019, it reached 82.3 years and quickly began to approach pre-coronavirus levels: in 2021 it was 83.3 and in 2022, 83.2.

In fact, Spain is the only member state of the European Club that in 2024 recorded the same life expectancy as before the pandemic. There has only been one country where the figure has worsened: the Netherlands, which has seen a reduction of two-tenths and now has a life expectancy of 82 years.

The rest of the Member States have increased their life expectancy compared to 2019. The most notable increases have been recorded in Lithuania (1.1 years more) and the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Romania, which have all improved by one year. The increase has been the least significant in France, which has only surpassed it by 0.1 years and now stands at 83.1. Eastern European countries are particularly at the bottom of the list in terms of life expectancy. The three countries with the worst figures are Bulgaria, which remains at 75.9 years, Romania, with 76.6 years, and Latvia, which stands at 76.7 years.

The countries outside the European Union for which Eurostat also has data have very high life expectancies, substantially above the European bloc average. Switzerland reaches 84.5 years, Norway at 83.3 years, and Lichtenstein at 84.7 years. The worst off in this group of states is Iceland, which stands at 82.8.