Living standards, diet, health care, the environment… These are all factors that influence life expectancy, a reliable indicator of prosperity.(1)
In 2024, the global average stands at around 73.3 years according to UN data, an increase of 8.4 years since 1995. For the European Union (EU), life expectancy at birth stands at 81.5 years in 2024. It has increased by more than two years per decade since the 1960s.
The countries at the top of the United Nations Population Division‘s statistics, including many high-income European nations, exceed these thresholds.
In contrast, the poorest countries are still far from reaching them. The world’s lowest life expectancy, at 54.6 years, is in Nigeria, matching the global average in 1966.
Monaco, San Marino and Andorra: three European exceptions
The wealthiest and smallest states and territories, those living in peace and most closely following the Mediterranean diet, which is based on olive oil, fruit, vegetables, fresh fish and seafood, have the highest life expectancies in Europe and around the world.
This is true of the city-state of Monaco. With fewer than 40,000 residents spread across 2 square kilometres, it has the highest level of wealth in the world: $288,000 in GDP per capita in 2024, according to the World Bank.
Two other microstates in Southern Europe also stand out: San Marino, nestled in the mountains of north-central Italy, and Andorra, an independent principality located between France and Spain in the Pyrenees.
Italy, Spain and France in Europe’s top 10
The most populous and therefore most representative countries in Europe with the highest life expectancy are Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France, ahead of Northern Europe.
Spain is a textbook example: the adoption of the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, a robust universal public health-care system and social ties that promote the integration of older adults all contribute to longer life expectancy.
In France, healthy life expectancy has stalled. France exemplifies a phenomenon of “two-speed Europe”, with marked regional and social disparities that affect mortality from age 65, according to the National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED).
Persistent East–West and gender gaps in European life expectancy
The map of life expectancy in Europe reveals a persistent East–West divide. On average, life expectancy in Eastern Europe is 74.6 years, compared with 82.2 years in Western Europe, a gap of nearly eight years.
In the EU, women had a life expectancy at birth that was 5.2 years higher than that of men in 2024. This gap varies greatly from country to country. It is nearly 10 years in Latvia in favour of women, and less than 3 years in the Netherlands. Since 2022, this difference has been steadily narrowing.