European Union | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. Development relevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Limitations and exceptions: Annual data series from United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects are interpolated data from 5-year period data. Therefore they may not reflect real events as much as observed data. Statistical concept and methodology: Life expectancy at birth used here is the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future. It reflects the overall mortality level of a population, and summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups in a given year. It is calculated in a period life table which provides a snapshot of a population's mortality pattern at a given time. It therefore does not reflect the mortality pattern that a person actually experiences during his/her life, which can be calculated in a cohort life table. High mortality in young age groups significantly lowers the life expectancy at birth. But if a person survives his/her childhood of high mortality, he/she may live much longer. For example, in a population with a life expectancy at birth of 50, there may be few people dying at age 50. The life expectancy at birth may be low due to the high childhood mortality so that once a person survives his/her childhood, he/she may live much longer than 50 years.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
European Union
Records
63
Source
European Union | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
69.03760636 1960
69.4373543 1961
69.28127311 1962
69.64127047 1963
70.16091886 1964
70.27086513 1965
70.58235186 1966
70.5898442 1967
70.59593239 1968
70.42180243 1969
70.82235693 1970
70.96579801 1971
71.35053998 1972
71.46880377 1973
71.77990296 1974
71.79896674 1975
72.06914829 1976
72.3941776 1977
72.48511018 1978
72.76698494 1979
72.78960622 1980
73.12522963 1981
73.40334558 1982
73.44889921 1983
73.74048172 1984
73.81547331 1985
74.0715647 1986
74.32453373 1987
74.52677694 1988
74.65464948 1989
74.69732688 1990
74.80996076 1991
75.12689288 1992
75.25540134 1993
75.52573652 1994
75.67124376 1995
75.92402183 1996
76.24187547 1997
76.51124163 1998
76.74520019 1999
77.07531688 2000
77.42295017 2001
77.5310033 2002
77.589336 2003
78.1144999 2004
78.27142867 2005
78.66801004 2006
78.90181909 2007
79.12529641 2008
79.35763602 2009
79.63003371 2010
80.13874215 2011
80.15765949 2012
80.46479377 2013
80.8719824 2014
80.56843942 2015
80.95129748 2016
80.93259862 2017
81.028729 2018
81.31485796 2019
80.45209305 2020
80.38752852 2021
2022
European Union | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. Development relevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Limitations and exceptions: Annual data series from United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects are interpolated data from 5-year period data. Therefore they may not reflect real events as much as observed data. Statistical concept and methodology: Life expectancy at birth used here is the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future. It reflects the overall mortality level of a population, and summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups in a given year. It is calculated in a period life table which provides a snapshot of a population's mortality pattern at a given time. It therefore does not reflect the mortality pattern that a person actually experiences during his/her life, which can be calculated in a cohort life table. High mortality in young age groups significantly lowers the life expectancy at birth. But if a person survives his/her childhood of high mortality, he/she may live much longer. For example, in a population with a life expectancy at birth of 50, there may be few people dying at age 50. The life expectancy at birth may be low due to the high childhood mortality so that once a person survives his/her childhood, he/she may live much longer than 50 years.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
European Union
Records
63
Source