For women in the EU, life expectancy at birth reached 84.0 years in 2023 (up by 0.7 compared with 2022 and the same value as in 2019) and for men at 78.7 years (+0.8 compared with 2022 and +0.2 compared with 2019).
Source dataset: demo_mlexpec
In 2023, life expectancy at birth for women was 5.3 years longer than that for men, with variations between EU countries. In Latvia, women were expected to live 10.1 years longer than men, followed by Lithuania (9.0 years) and Estonia (8.8 years).
The smallest gender gaps were in the Netherlands (3.0 years), and Sweden and Luxembourg (both 3.3 years).
Gender gap life expectancy, 2023
Photo: Eurostat
In 2023, life expectancy at birth was equal to or higher than in 2019 (before the data anomalies caused by the Covid pandemic) in 21 EU countries. By contrast life expectancy fell in 6 EU countries: Finland (-0.5 years), the Netherlands (-0.3 years), Germany (-0.2 years) to Italy, Latvia and Austria (all -0.1 years).
Life expectancy at birth in Latvia in 2023 was 75.6 years on average for the population as a whole. Among men the figure is just 70.5 years, among women it is 80.6 years – giving women more than a decade of additional life.
Both sexes’ indicators have improved since 2010 when life expectancy at birth was 73.1 years among the whole Latvian population: 67.9 years for men and 78.0 years for women.
One additional cause for optimism is a marked reduction in infant mortality rates in Latvia between 2013 and 2023 (see graph below).
Infant mortality, 2013-2023
Photo: Eurostat
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