Life expectancy increased across comparable countries
Across comparable countries in the dataset, average life expectancy rose by 4.8 years between 2000 and 2024.
Life expectancy across Europe
Longer lives and Europe’s changing mortality patterns
This page tracks life expectancy at birth across European countries from 2000 to 2024. The indicator estimates how many years a newborn would be expected to live if current mortality conditions remained unchanged throughout life.
The time series highlights one of Europe’s most important long-term demographic changes. Across countries with data available for both 2000 and 2024, average life expectancy increased from 76.7 years to 81.5 years. The long-term improvement was broad, but the latest levels and pace of change still differ substantially between countries.
Explore the data
Key insights
The longest life expectancy is concentrated in high-income Western and Alpine countries
Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Spain recorded the highest life expectancy levels in 2024.
Eastern Europe still records lower life expectancy
Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania had the lowest life expectancy levels in the latest year.
Key comparisons
Selected highlights from the life expectancy dataset, 2000–2024.
Extended analysis
1) Life expectancy increased across Europe
Across countries with data available in both 2000 and 2024, average life expectancy increased from 76.7 years to 81.5 years. This rise of 4.8 years shows how strongly mortality conditions improved over the full period, despite temporary setbacks in some years.
Life expectancy at birth is a synthetic indicator based on mortality conditions in a given year. It does not predict the exact lifespan of a specific birth cohort, but it provides a clear summary of current mortality patterns and allows countries to be compared over time.
2) The highest life expectancy levels are found in Western, Alpine and Mediterranean countries
In 2024, the highest life expectancy levels in the dataset were recorded in Liechtenstein (84.2 years), Switzerland (84.2 years), Spain (84.0 years), Sweden (83.8 years) and Italy (83.7 years).
These countries show the upper end of Europe’s current longevity profile. Their position reflects a combination of mortality patterns, health systems, living conditions, income levels and long-term public health developments.
3) The lowest life expectancy levels remain concentrated in parts of Eastern Europe
The lowest life expectancy levels in 2024 were recorded in Bulgaria (75.8 years), Latvia (76.4 years), Romania (76.5 years), Hungary (76.8 years) and Lithuania (77.5 years).
These values point to persistent differences in mortality outcomes across Europe. They do not by themselves explain the causes, which can include health behaviour, income, access to care, working conditions, social inequality and historical mortality patterns.
4) The largest long-term increases were recorded in countries starting from lower levels
Between 2000 and 2024, the largest increases in life expectancy were recorded in Estonia (+8.3 years), Liechtenstein (+7.2 years), Ireland (+6.5 years), Slovenia (+5.9 years) and Cyprus (+5.8 years).
These changes show that life expectancy gains can be especially large where mortality conditions improve from lower starting points, but strong progress was not limited to only one part of Europe.
5) Improvements were smaller in some countries that already had relatively high life expectancy
The smallest increases between 2000 and 2024 were recorded in Germany (+2.9 years), Iceland (+3.1 years), Greece (+3.3 years), Netherlands (+3.7 years) and France (+3.8 years).
Smaller gains do not necessarily mean poor performance. In countries that already had comparatively high life expectancy in 2000, further increases can be more gradual, especially when temporary mortality shocks interrupt long-term improvement.
How to read this indicator
Life expectancy at birth estimates the average number of years a newborn would be expected to live if the mortality rates observed in a given year remained constant throughout life. It is not a direct forecast for a specific generation, but a summary measure of current mortality conditions. Higher values usually indicate lower mortality at different ages, but the indicator does not show which age groups or causes of death drive the difference.
Data for Croatia and Latvia are available from 2002 onwards. Comparisons covering the full 2000–2024 period therefore include only countries with data available for both the first and last year of the period. Croatia and Latvia are excluded from rankings and averages covering the full period.