In 2020, the life expectancy at birth in the European Union was 80.4 years, decreasing slightly compared with 2019, while women continued to have a higher life expectancy than men, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU.

Life expectancy in Cyprus in 2020 was 82.4 years, which was higher than the EU average, having increased slightly compared with 2019 (82.3 years).

Overall, the regions in the EU with the highest levels of life expectancy at birth were located in France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Also, life expectancy in 2020 was 5.7 years higher for women (83.2 years) than men (77.5 years).

The gap between the sexes was smaller in Cyprus, since life expectancy was four years higher for women (84.4 years) than men (80.4 years).

In fact, female life expectancy was higher than male life expectancy in every NUTS level 2 region with available data.

Compared with 2019, the life expectancy at birth experienced a decrease (-0.9 years). Men experienced a larger decrease in life expectancy (-1.0 years) than women (-0.8 years). However, this reduction in life expectancy at birth is related to the sudden increase in mortality in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The EU region with the highest life expectancy at birth in 2020 was the French island of Corsica (84.0), followed by the Balearic Islands in Spain (83.9) and the Epirus region in Greece (83.8).

On the other hand, the EU regions with the lowest life expectancy at birth were all in Bulgaria: North-West (72.1), North-Central (72.8), and North and South-East Bulgaria (72.9).

Corsica also had the highest female life expectancy (87.0 years), followed by the Spanish region of Galicia (86.7). Two French regions (Loire and Midi-Pyrénées), the Åland Islands in Finland and Epirus recorded the same female life expectancy; 86.4 years.

The highest levels of male life expectancy at birth were recorded in the Epirus region in Greece, the region of Umbria in central Italy and the Balearic Islands in Spain (all 81.4).