EU countries by healthy life years at birth

Sweden had the highest healthy life years at birth of 27 EU countries in 2016, at 73.2 years. Latvia had the lowest, at 53.6 years. The median was 60.3 years and the figure for the European Union (27) was 64 years. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest73.2Sweden

Lowest53.6Latvia

Median60.327 EU countries

European Union (27)64History

Map of EU countries, 2016

Under 58
58 to 60
60 to 63
63 to 66
66 and over

years, 2016. Source: Eurostat, Healthy life years in absolute value at birth, total (hlth_hlye). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2016

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2016 years	Change on 2015
1	Sweden	73.2	+0.5
2	Malta	71.7	-1.9
3	Ireland	68.5	+1.3
4	Cyprus	68.2	+4.9
5	Italy Series break	67.4	+4.8
6	Germany	66.4	0
7	Spain	66.2	+2.2
8	Bulgaria Series break	65.7	+2.5
9	Greece	64.3	+0.3
10	Belgium	63.7	-0.5
11	France	63.4	-0.2
12	Czechia	63.3	+0.3
13	Poland	62.9	+1.3
14	Denmark	60.3	+1.2
14	Netherlands Series break	60.3	+1.2
16	Luxembourg Series break	60.2	-2
17	Hungary	59.8	+0.7
18	Romania	59.4	+0.2
19	Portugal	58.6	+2.1
20	Slovenia	58.3	+0.2
21	Finland	58.1	+0.3
22	Croatia	57.9	+1.8
23	Lithuania	57.8	+1.3
24	Austria	57	-1
25	Estonia	56.8	+1.8
26	Slovakia	56.7	+1.8
27	Latvia	53.6	+0.6

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of years a newborn 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 birth, 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 birth, total (hlth_hlye) (EU countries by healthy life years at birth, 2016) [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 birth, total (hlth_hlye), EU countries by healthy life years at birth, 2016. 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-birth/eu-countries?period=2016. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Healthy life years in absolute value at birth, total (hlth_hlye). EU countries by healthy life years at birth, 2016. 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-birth/eu-countries?period=2016.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Healthy life years in absolute value at birth, total (hlth_hlye), EU countries by healthy life years at birth, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/hlth_hlye/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/healthy-life-years-at-birth/eu-countries?period=2016 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_healthy_2016,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Healthy life years in absolute value at birth, total (hlth\_hlye): EU countries by healthy life years at birth, 2016}},
  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-birth/eu-countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Healthy life years in absolute value at birth, 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 birth, total (hlth_hlye): EU countries by healthy life years at birth, 2016
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-birth/eu-countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/healthy-life-years-at-birth/eu-countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Healthy life years in absolute value at birth, 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 birth?

Sweden, with 73.2 years in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Latvia, with 53.6 years in 2016.

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 birth, total (hlth_hlye). Retrieved 2026-10-18.