In Belgium, Covid-19 reduces life expectancy by 15 months

Belgium outperforms the EU average of 80.4 years, with a life expectancy rate of 80.8 years from birth. Nonetheless, according to an EU Commission report, Covid-19 reduced life expectancy by more than 15 months in 2020.

Prior to the pandemic, Belgium had a life expectancy of 82.1 years in 2019, compared to the EU average of 81.3 in 2019. Belgium, while higher than the EU average, lags behind many Western European countries, according to the 2019 WHO report.

Inequalities persist. Men and women with the least education are likely to live five years less than those with the most education. This is one of the most significant gaps in Western Europe.

According to an EU Commission report, people with lower incomes are less likely than those with higher incomes to admit they are healthy.

According to EU statistics, life expectancy in Europe has increased by more than two years per decade on average since the 1960s. However, according to the most recent EU Commission data, life expectancy has stalled or even declined in some EU member countries.

Life expectancy has recently returned to pre-pandemic levels in some Western European countries. But other countries, primarily in Eastern Europe, felt the pandemic's impact first in 2021, so rebound levels are yet to be recorded in available data.