EU countries by healthy life expectancy at birth
Luxembourg had the highest healthy life expectancy at birth of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 71.4 years. Bulgaria had the lowest, at 65.4 years. The median was 69.8 years. Source: World Health Organization.
All EU countries, 2017
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2017 | Change on 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luxembourg | 71.4 | +0.1 |
| 2 | Spain | 71.4 | -0 |
| 3 | Malta | 71.1 | +0.1 |
| 4 | Italy | 71.1 | -0.3 |
| 5 | Sweden | 71 | 0 |
| 6 | Cyprus | 70.9 | +0.1 |
| 7 | Netherlands | 70.5 | +0.1 |
| 8 | France | 70.5 | +0.1 |
| 9 | Austria | 70.2 | 0 |
| 10 | Ireland | 70.2 | +0.2 |
| 11 | Denmark | 70.1 | +0.2 |
| 12 | Finland | 70 | +0.2 |
| 13 | Portugal | 69.9 | +0.2 |
| 14 | Slovenia | 69.8 | +0.1 |
| 15 | Belgium | 69.7 | +0.1 |
| 16 | Greece | 69.7 | -0 |
| 17 | Germany | 69.3 | +0.1 |
| 18 | Czechia | 68.2 | 0 |
| 19 | Croatia | 68 | -0.1 |
| 20 | Estonia | 67.9 | +0.4 |
| 21 | Poland | 67.5 | -0.1 |
| 22 | Slovakia | 67.1 | -0 |
| 23 | Hungary | 66.2 | -0.1 |
| 24 | Romania | 65.9 | +0.1 |
| 25 | Lithuania | 65.6 | +0.6 |
| 26 | Latvia | 65.5 | 0 |
| 27 | Bulgaria | 65.4 | -0 |
Other periods
About this ranking
Average number of years a newborn can expect to live in full health (HALE), counting years lived with disease or injury as partly lost. Both sexes. WHO Global Health Estimates, calculated with Sullivan's method from life tables and the rate of years lived with disability.
Modelled WHO estimates, not a national survey measure, so they differ from Eurostat's healthy life years, which come from self-reported limitations. Values are served with every decimal WHO publishes. WHO revises these series, past years included, when new national reports or estimates come in, so values can change between retrievals.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
World Health Organization, data.who.int. Healthy life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes (WHOSIS_000002) [Indicator]. https://data.who.int/indicators/i/48D9B0C/C64284D (Accessed on 2026-10-12). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. No changes made to source values. WHO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
Use this data in your AI agent
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Rank EU countries by healthy life expectancy at birth using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"healthy_life_expectancy","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=healthy_life_expectancy&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10
Questions
Which EU country has the highest healthy life expectancy at birth?
Luxembourg, with 71.4 years in 2017, according to World Health Organization.
Which EU country has the lowest healthy life expectancy at birth?
Bulgaria, with 65.4 years in 2017.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: World Health Organization, Healthy life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes (WHOSIS_000002). Retrieved 2026-10-12.