Life expectancy at birth in the European Union is 81.5 years, while in Macedonia it is 76.6 years. This figure varies from region to region, with the highest life expectancy in the Spanish region of Comunidad de Madrid, at 85.7 years, and the lowest in the North-West region of Bulgaria, at 73.9 years.
Women at EU level are expected to live 5.2 years longer than men, while in Macedonia it is 4.4 years. This gap varies significantly between EU countries, with Latvia expecting women to live 9.8 years longer than men, while the smallest gender gap is in the Netherlands – 2.8 years.
According to Eurostat data, in 2024, life expectancy at birth in the EU is 81.5 years, showing an increase of 0.1 year compared to 2023. Life expectancy decreased in 2020 (80.4 years) and 2021 (80.1 years) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since recovered and reached values higher than in 2019 (81.3 years).
For women, life expectancy at birth in the EU was 84.1 years in 2024, while for men it was 78.9 years.
At the regional level, four regions have a life expectancy of 85 years or more: the Spanish region of Comunidad de Madrid, with 85.7 years, and the Italian regions of Provincia Autonoma di Trento and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen, and the Swedish capital region of Stockholm, all with 85.0 years.
In contrast, among the 5 EU regions with the lowest life expectancy in the east, 3 were in Bulgaria: North-West (73.9 years), North-Central (74.9 years) and North-East (75.4 years). The other 2 were Mayotte in France (74.5 years) and Eszák-Mágyarózság in Hungary (75.1 years).
In 2024, life expectancy at birth for women in the EU reached 84.1 years (an increase of 0.1 year compared to 2023), while for men it was 78.9 years (+0.2 years). This shows that women are expected to live 5.2 years longer than men.
This gap varies significantly between EU countries. In Latvia, women are expected to live 9.8 years longer than men, followed by Lithuania (8.6 years) and Estonia (8.4 years).
The smallest gender gaps are in the Netherlands (2.8 years), Sweden (3.1 years) and Ireland (3.4 years).
Eurostat does not have data on the life expectancy of the population in North Macedonia for 2024, while according to data from the Statistical Yearbook for 2025 of the State Statistical Office, life expectancy for the period 2022-2024 is 76.63 years, where the life expectancy of women is 78.86 years and that of men is 4.4 years lower at 74.48 years.
Life expectancy at birth has increased by 1.3 years, compared to the period 2021-2023 when it was 75.32 years, and by 2.2 years compared to the period 2020-2022.
In 2021, a decrease in life expectancy in the country was recorded by three years and five months compared to 2018, when it was 76.7 years.