We are all curious to know what our life expectancy might be, and the average varies from country to country. Many factors have a part to play in the calculation, including genetics, diet, exercise, and the welfare system where you live. There are some trackable trends. For instance, across Europe, women live longer than men by a difference of 5.7 years.
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There is also the issue of aging populations; across Europe, people are living for longer and need to be looked after by the state or younger generations. We’ve already talked about the wild death-cheating scheme that sees people sign up to freeze their bodies. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the country in Europe with the lowest life expectancy: Bulgaria.
Bulgaria’s life expectancy
Recent data has revealed that you are most likely to die young in Bulgaria out of all the European countries. Eurostat’s research shows that the average life expectancy in the country was just 71.4. That might not mean much to you, so let’s put it into context. Compared to more western countries, there’s a difference of more than a decade: Spain comes in top with an average life expectancy of 83.3. Sweden comes in a close second with 83.1, and Italy is third at 82.7.
On top of that, Bulgaria has seen very low levels of improvement. With advances in social and technological systems, life expectancies in stable countries tend to see a gradual increase. However, in Bulgaria the numbers are really low.
Bulgaria’s lowering life expectancy
Euronews’ stats showed that the life expectancy in Bulgaria actually decreased from 2000 to 2021. The number was 0.2 lower and, to compare, the second last country on the list - Slovakia - saw an increase of 1.3 years.
On the other end of the list, some countries enjoyed a big jump in life expectancies, including Estonia and Ireland. The former saw a 6.1 year increase while the latter went up by 5.8. Alongside these low results, Bulgaria also had the highest mortality rate for infants, with 5.6 per 1,000 births.
Romania currently has the second-lowest life expectancy with 72.8.
As for the UK, the Office for National Statistics has split the data between men and women. The tables 'show that life expectancy at birth was 79.0 years for males and 82.9 years for females in 2022, an increase from 78.5 years and 82.5 years for males and females, respectively, in 2021.'
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Sources used:
Express: The country in Europe where you're more likely to die young than anywhere else
Euronews: Life expectancy: Where in Europe do people live the shortest and the longest?
Office for National Statistics
