Skopje, 20 March 2026 (MIA) - Life expectancy at birth in the EU was 81.5 years and 76.6 years in Macedonia. This figure varies from region to region - the Spanish region of Comunidad de Madrid has the highest life expectancy with 85.7 years with Bulgaria’s Severozapaden having the lowest at 73.9 years.

Women in the EU are expected to live 5.2 years longer than men and women in Macedonia are expected to live 4.4 years longer. This gap significantly varies among the EU countries – in Latvia, women were expected to live 9.8 years longer than men. The smallest gender gap was in the Netherlands (2.8 years).

According to Eurostat data, in 2024, life expectancy at birth in the EU was 81.5 years, indicating a 0.1-year increase from 2023. Life expectancy decreased in 2020 (80.4 years) and 2021 (80.1 years) due to the COVID-19 pandemic but has since then recovered and reached values higher than in 2019 (81.3 years).

In 2024, life expectancy at birth for women in the EU reached 84.1 years (up by 0.1 years compared with 2023), while for men it was 78.9 years (+0.2 years).

At regional level, four regions reached life expectancy of 85 years or above: the Spanish region of Comunidad de Madrid, with 85.7 years, and the Italian regions of Provincia Autonoma di Trento and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen and the Swedish capital region of Stockholm, all with 85.0 years.

Conversely, among the five EU regions with the lowest life expectancy at birth, 3 were in Bulgaria: Severozapaden (73.9 years), Severen tsentralen (74.9 years), and Severoiztochen (75.4 years). The other 2 were Mayotte in France (74.5 years) and Észak-Magyarország in Hungary (75.1 years).

In 2024, life expectancy at birth for women in the EU reached 84.1 years (up by 0.1 years compared with 2023), while for men it was 78.9 years (+0.2 years). This indicates that women are expected to live 5.2 years longer than men.

This gap varied considerably among EU countries. In Latvia, women were expected to live 9.8 years longer than men, followed by Lithuania (8.6 years) and Estonia (8.4 years). The smallest gender gaps were in the Netherlands (2.8 years), Sweden (3.1 years) and Ireland (3.4 years).

Eurostat has no data on life expectancy at birth in North Macedonia in 2024. According to data of the 2025 Statistical Yearbook of the State Statistical Office, life expectancy at birth was 76.63 years in 2022-2024 - life expectancy at birth for women in the country was 78.86 years and for men was 74.48, meaning they women live 4.4 years longer.

Life expectancy at birth increased by 1.3 years compared to 2021-2023, when it was recorded at 75.32 years, and 2.2 years compared to 2020-2022.

2021 recorded a decrease in life expectancy in the country by 3.5 years compared to 2018, when it was 76.7 years.

MIA file photo