According to Eurostat statistical data, in 2020, the number of healthy life years for men and women in Cyprus was slightly below the European average. The number of healthy life years in Cyprus was 63.1 years for women compared to 64.5 for the European Union and 62.5 for men compared to 63.5 years for the EU.
Life expectancy at birth for women in the EU was, on average, 5.7 years longer than that for men in 2020 (83.2 years compared with 77.5 years). Healthy life years represent 78% and 82% of the total life expectancy for women and men, respectively. Therefore, on average, men tend to spend a greater proportion of their somewhat shorter lives free from activity limitations.
Among the EU Member States, Sweden recorded the highest number of healthy life years at birth in 2020 for women (72.7 years), followed by Malta (70.7 years) and Italy (68.7 years). The highest numbers for men were also recorded in the same three countries: Sweden (72.8), Malta (70.2) and Italy (67.2).
In contrast, Latvia had the lowest number of healthy life years for both women (54.3 years) and men (52.6 years). Extreme values can be partly explained by the way activity limitation is measured in the country, impacting the results to some extent.
