Belgians spend 63 years in good health

According to Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, Belgian men lived in good health for 63.6 years in 2020, while women lived for 64 years.

Eurostat calculated "healthy life years" since birth or the number of years a person in the EU's 27 member countries is expected to live in good health, for both men and women. This is the number of years that Europeans have lived without physical or mental constraints.

Men in the EU lived 63.5 years in good health while women lived slightly better with 64.5 years in good health. Women lived longer and healthier lives than men in 20 EU member countries, with a small average difference. In seven of the twenty EU countries, the gap was more than two years.

Only in six EU member states did women have fewer healthy years than men. The Netherlands has the greatest gender disparity, with women living 2.8 fewer healthy years than men.

Bulgaria (4.2 yrs), Estonia (4.1 yrs), and Poland (4 yrs) had the greatest gender disparity in healthy living. The difference in health between men and women, according to Harvard Medical School, can be explained by biological, social, and behavioural factors.

Belgian men had slightly longer healthy lives than the EU average, while Belgian women had slightly shorter lives.

Sweden had the most healthy women's life years (72.7), followed by Malta (70.7) and Italy (68.7). The lowest levels of women were found in Latvia (54.3), Finland (55.9), and Slovakia (57.1).

The average male life expectancy in Sweden was (72.8), followed by Malta (70.2 years) and Italy (66.3). Latvia (52.6), Lithuania (55.1), and Estonia (55.5) had the worst health for men.

In the EU, women's life expectancy was 5.7 years higher than men's. Women lived an average of 83.2 years, while men lived an average of 77.5 years.

Despite living shorter lives, men spend a higher proportion of them in good health. Women live in good health for 78% of their lives, while men live in good health for 82% of their lives but die younger.