Healthy life years statistics

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Most recent data as available July 2011: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

Healthy life years, the number of years that a person is expected to continue to live in a healthy condition, is an important measure of the relative health of populations in the European Union (EU). Eurostat calculates this indicator for two ages (at birth and at the age of 65), with the indicator being presented separately for males and females.

Whether extra years of life gained through increased longevity are spent in good or bad health is a crucial question. Since life expectancy at birth is not able to fully answer this question, indicators of health expectancies, such as healthy life years (also called disability-free life expectancy) have been developed. These focus on the quality of life spent in a healthy state, rather than the quantity of life – as measured by life expectancy. The calculation of the healthy life years indicator is based on a self-perceived question which aims to measure the extent of any limitations because of a health problem that may have affected respondents as regards activities they usually do (for at least six months).

Main statistical findings

Figure 1a: Healthy life years at birth, females, 2007-2009
(years) - Source: Eurostat (hlth_hlye)

Figure 1b: Healthy life years at birth, males, 2007-2009
(years) - Source: Eurostat (hlth_hlye)

Figure 2a: Healthy life years at age 65, females, 2007-2009
(years) - Source: Eurostat (hlth_hlye)

Figure 2b: Healthy life years at age 65, males, 2007-2009
(years) - Source: Eurostat (hlth_hlye)

In 2009 the number of healthy life years at birth stood at 60.9 years for men and 61.6 years for women in the EU-27; this represented 79.4 % and 74.5 % of total life expectancy at birth for men and women. For survivors at the age of 65, the number of remaining healthy life years was 8.2 years for men and 8.3 years for women. These figures can be contrasted with the life expectancy of those who survive to the age of 65 – around 17 years for men and 20 years for women.

Life expectancy for women in the EU-27 was, on average, six years longer than that for men in 2009. However, most of these additional years tend to be lived with activity limitations. Indeed, the gender gap was considerably smaller in terms of healthy life years – around one year difference in favour of women – than for overall life expectancy. On average, men therefore tend to spend a greater proportion of their shorter lives free of activity limitation.

Across the EU Member States, life expectancy at birth in 2009 ranged between 67.5 years and 79.8 years (12.3 years difference) for men and between 77.4 years and 85.0 years (7.6 years difference) for women. The corresponding healthy life years values ranged from 52.1 years to 70.5 years (18.4 years difference) for men and from 52.3 years to 70.6 years (18.3 years difference) for women. Differences between Member States therefore occur more in terms of the quality (health wise) of life, rather than the number of years of life expectancy. In six of the Member States (Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden), men (at birth) could expect to live longer than women without disability. In Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland the gender gap in healthy life years at birth was around four years in favour of women.

Life expectancy was rather stable between 2008 and 2009. However, during the same period the number of healthy life years decreased for men in nine Member States and for women in eleven Member States.

Data sources and availability

The indicator for healthy life years is calculated using mortality statistics and data on self-perceived disability. Mortality data comes from Eurostat’s demographic database, while self-perceived disability data comes from a minimum European health module that is integrated within the survey on EU statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC). The EU-SILC question is: for at least the past six months, to what extent have you been limited because of a health problem in activities people usually do? Would you say you have been:

strongly limited?
limited?
not limited at all?

Context

Life expectancy at birth remains one of the most frequently quoted indicators of health status and economic development. Life expectancy at birth has risen rapidly in the last century due to a number of important factors, including reductions in infant mortality, rising living standards, improved lifestyles and better education, as well as advances in healthcare and medicine. While most people are aware that successive generations are living longer, less is known about the health of the EU’s ageing population.

The health status of a population is difficult to measure because it is hard to define among individuals, populations, cultures, or even across time periods. As a result, the demographic measure of life expectancy has often been used as a measure of a nation’s health status because it is based on a simple and easy to understand characteristic – namely, that of death.

Indicators on healthy life years introduce the concept of the quality of life, by focusing on those years that may be enjoyed by individuals free from the limitations of illness or disability. Chronic disease, frailty, mental disorders and physical disability tend to become more prevalent in older age, and may result in a lower quality of life for those who suffer from such conditions, while the burden of these conditions may also impact on healthcare and pension provisions.

Healthy life years also monitor health as a productive or economic factor. An increase in healthy life years is one of the main goals for EU health policy, given that this would not only improve the situation of individuals (as good health and a long life are fundamental objectives of human activity) but would also lead to lower public healthcare expenditure. If healthy life years increase more rapidly than life expectancy, then not only are people living longer, but they are also living a greater proportion of their lives free from health problems. Any loss in health will, nonetheless, have significant effects. These will include an altered pattern of resource allocation within the healthcare system, as well as wider ranging effects on consumption and production throughout the economy.