Life Expectancy Trends in Europe: Key Insights

Life expectancy in Europe has undergone significant transformations, influenced by various factors including governmental policies, health crises, and lifestyle changes. This article examines the data trends, contributing factors, and implications surrounding the changes in life expectancy across Europe.

Slowdown in Life Expectancy Increase

Since 1900, life expectancy has steadily increased in high-income countries, with notable exceptions during the two World Wars and the 1918 influenza pandemic. More recently, however, the period starting in 2011 saw a gradual slowdown in life expectancy growth, culminating in declines attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The findings discussed in this article stem from a recent country-level analysis based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021, which evaluated changes in life expectancy and risk factor exposure across 16 founding European Economic Area countries and the four UK nations. The analysis delineates life expectancy at birth as the mean expected years of life for newborns, contingent upon the prevailing age-specific and sex-specific mortality rates.

Country-Level Analysis

Data revealed that although life expectancy improvements were consistent from 1990 to 2011 and from 2011 to 2019, the rate of increase varied markedly among countries. All nations except the Nordic nations and Belgium faced declines in life expectancy during the pandemic. Below is a table summarizing the % change in life expectancy across selected European countries from 2019 to 2021:

Causes of Life Expectancy Change

The improvements in life expectancy from 1990 to 2011 can primarily be attributed to advancements in the management of cardiovascular diseases and cancers. However, the decline observed during the pandemic was largely due to deaths caused by respiratory infections and immediate complications resulting from COVID-19.

“Among the studied countries, those with the greatest slowdown in life expectancy improvements before the COVID-19 pandemic were generally most severely affected by COVID-19 and had some of the largest decreases in life expectancy in 2019-21.” – Study Authors

Key Risk Factors

The 2019 analysis identified several key risk factors contributing to cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms:

• Cardiovascular Diseases: High systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, and high LDL cholesterol.
• Neoplasms: Tobacco smoke, dietary risks, and occupational hazards.

Furthermore, trends show that while tobacco use as a population risk has decreased over time, the prevalence of obesity, reflected in increased body mass index (BMI), dietary risks, excessive alcohol consumption, and sedentary lifestyles, remain high.

The Role of Government Policies

Government policies significantly influence life expectancy rates. The analysis highlights that some countries, particularly Belgium, France, and Norway, have introduced national healthcare policies aiming to enhance access to cancer diagnosis and treatment, resulting in improved life expectancy related to neoplasms.

However, the authors also contend that policy cuts in health and social care since 2010 have adversely affected life expectancy growth.

Diet and Physical Activity

Preventative measures rooted in nutrition and physical activity are pivotal for enhancing life expectancy. For instance, Norway has enacted policies to reduce sugar and salt content in foods, demonstrating that effective health policy can stimulate healthier eating habits. Despite these measures, there has been no observable increase in physical activity levels across the studied nations.

Conclusion

This extensive analysis aims to inform policymakers and public health advocates about the intricate dynamics influencing life expectancy in Europe. By understanding the multifaceted interplay of governmental policies, risk factors, and societal changes, countries can devise effective strategies to revitalize improvements in life expectancy.

Literature Cited

[1] GBD 2021 Europe Life Expectancy Collaborators (2025). Changing life expectancy in European countries 1990-2021: a subanalysis of causes and risk factors from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet. Public Health, 10(3), e172–e188.

[2] Roser, M. (2020). The Spanish flu: the global impact of the largest influenza pandemic in history.

[3] Raleigh, V. S. (2019). Trends in life expectancy in EU and other OECD countries. OECD Health Working Papers 108.

[4] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, EU. (2018). Health at a glance: Europe 2018: state of health in the EU Cycle.

[5] Alexiou, A., et al. (2021). Local government funding and life expectancy in England: a longitudinal ecological study. The Lancet. Public Health, 6(9), e641–e647.

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