EU countries by healthy life years at 65

Sweden had the highest healthy life years at 65 of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 15.6 years. Slovakia had the lowest, at 4 years. The median was 8.8 years and the figure for the European Union (27) was 9.9 years. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest15.6Sweden

Lowest4Slovakia

Median8.827 EU countries

European Union (27)9.9History

Map of EU countries, 2017

Under 6.1
6.1 to 7.9
7.9 to 9.1
9.1 to 12
12 and over

years, 2017. Source: Eurostat, Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2017

years. Source: Eurostat, Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye). Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2017 years	Change on 2016
1	Sweden	15.6	-0.3
2	Malta	13.9	+1
3	Ireland	13	+0.4
4	Spain	12.4	+2
5	Germany	11.9	-0.1
6	Denmark	11.6	-0.1
7	Belgium	11.1	+0.2
8	France	10.1	0
9	Netherlands	9.9	-0.2
10	Italy	9.6	-0.7
11	Finland	9.2	+0.1
12	Cyprus	9	-1.7
13	Bulgaria	8.8	-0.9
13	Luxembourg	8.8	0
15	Poland	8.4	-0.2
16	Czechia	8	-0.6
17	Greece	7.9	0
18	Austria	7.6	-0.2
19	Portugal	7.3	+0.3
20	Slovenia	7.2	-1.1
21	Hungary	6.7	+0.2
22	Estonia	5.9	-0.5
23	Lithuania	5.6	0
24	Romania	5.4	-0.5
25	Croatia	4.9	-0.1
26	Latvia	4.2	-0.2
27	Slovakia	4	-0.3

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of further years a person aged 65 can expect to live without an activity limitation due to health problems, if current mortality and current rates of reported limitation persist. Both sexes.

Combines mortality with the share of people who report being limited for at least six months in activities people usually do because of a health problem (the EU-SILC global activity limitation question). Not the same as the WHO healthy life expectancy (healthy_life_expectancy), which uses a different method. Values depend on how people answer the survey question in each country, so differences between countries partly reflect culture and wording.

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

Eurostat. Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye) (EU countries by healthy life years at 65, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table

MLA 9

Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye), EU countries by healthy life years at 65, 2017. Eurostat, European Commission, 17 July 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/healthy-life-years-at-65/eu-countries?period=2017. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye). EU countries by healthy life years at 65, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/healthy-life-years-at-65/eu-countries?period=2017.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye), EU countries by healthy life years at 65, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/healthy-life-years-at-65/eu-countries?period=2017 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_healthy_2017,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth\_hlye): EU countries by healthy life years at 65, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-18},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/healthy-life-years-at-65/eu-countries?period=2017. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth\_hlye). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth\_hlye/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye): EU countries by healthy life years at 65, 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/17
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/healthy-life-years-at-65/eu-countries?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/healthy-life-years-at-65/eu-countries?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
ER  -

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Questions

Which EU country has the highest healthy life years at 65?

Sweden, with 15.6 years in 2017, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest healthy life years at 65?

Slovakia, with 4 years in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Healthy life years in absolute value at 65, total (hlth_hlye). Retrieved 2026-10-18.