Life Expectancy in Europe by Country (2024)
Life expectancy at birth across 36 European countries in 2024. Liechtenstein leads at 84.2 years, Georgia trails at 74.9 — a gap of 9.3 years. Eurostat data.
Data
| # | Country | years | Change vs 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liechtenstein | 84.2 | +0.4 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 84.2 | +0.1 |
| 3 | Spain | 84 | +0.2 |
| 4 | Sweden | 83.8 | +0.6 |
| 5 | Italy | 83.7 | +0.4 |
| 6 | Cyprus | 83.5 | +0.5 |
| 7 | Luxembourg | 83.2 | +0.1 |
| 8 | Norway | 83.2 | +0.2 |
| 9 | Ireland | 83.1 | +0.4 |
| 10 | France | 83 | +0.1 |
| 11 | Malta | 83 | -0.1 |
| 12 | Iceland | 82.8 | +0.4 |
| 13 | Portugal | 82.5 | +0.2 |
| 14 | Belgium | 82.4 | +0.1 |
| 15 | Finland | 82.2 | +0.6 |
| 16 | Austria | 82.1 | +0.2 |
| 17 | Slovenia | 82.1 | +0.3 |
| 18 | Denmark | 82 | +0.3 |
| 19 | Greece | 81.9 | +0.2 |
| 20 | Netherlands | 81.9 | +0.1 |
| 21 | Germany | 81.2 | +0.3 |
| 22 | Albania | 80.4 | n/a |
| 23 | Czechia | 80.1 | +0.3 |
| 24 | Estonia | 79.4 | +0.5 |
| 25 | Turkey | 79 | +1.7 |
| 26 | Croatia | 78.9 | +0.4 |
| 27 | Poland | 78.5 | +0.3 |
| 28 | Slovakia | 78.4 | +0.3 |
| 29 | Montenegro | 77.6 | unchanged |
| 30 | Lithuania | 77.5 | +0.1 |
| 31 | Hungary | 76.8 | +0.1 |
| 32 | Romania | 76.5 | +0.2 |
| 33 | Latvia | 76.4 | +0.8 |
| 34 | Serbia | 76.2 | unchanged |
| 35 | Bulgaria | 75.8 | +0.1 |
| 36 | Georgia | 74.9 | +1.2 |
About this Dataset
Life expectancy at birth is the summary statistic health systems are judged on, and in Europe it splits the continent along a line that has barely moved in thirty years. Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Spain and Sweden occupy the top of the 2024 table at 83.8 years or above, though Liechtenstein's population is small enough that its figure swings on a handful of deaths. Georgia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Latvia sit at the bottom, and the lowest is 9.3 years behind the leader.
A 9.3-year spread inside a single continent, between countries with broadly comparable per-capita incomes at the top and rapidly converging incomes at the bottom, is mostly not a story about medicine. It is a story about smoking, alcohol, road safety and cardiovascular risk in middle-aged men.
The pandemic is visible in the chart as a two-year interruption rather than a permanent shift. The panel average moved +0.3 years in 2024 to 81.1, above where the pre-2020 trend would have put it in several countries and still slightly short of it in others. Spending is a weak predictor of position here: Spain ranks third at 84.0 years on a health budget well below Germany's, which ranks 21st at 81.2 years.
Every row is the figure published for 2024; no value is carried over from an adjacent year to fill a gap. North Macedonia has not published a 2024 figure and is left out rather than carried forward from an older year. The chart tracks a fixed panel of 32 countries: those reporting in every year from 2005. The line therefore moves because the countries moved, not because the sample changed. Eurostat computes life expectancy from harmonised national mortality tables, so cross-country comparison is direct.
Country pages: Liechtenstein · Switzerland · Spain · Sweden · Italy · Cyprus · Luxembourg · Norway · Ireland · France · Malta · Iceland · Portugal · Belgium · Finland · Austria · Slovenia · Denmark · Greece · Netherlands · Germany · Albania · Czechia · Estonia · Turkey · Croatia · Poland · Slovakia · Montenegro · Lithuania · Hungary · Romania · Latvia · Serbia · Bulgaria · Georgia