People over 65 living in cities feel healthier than rural counterparts

People aged over 65 who live in cities tend to feel they have better health than their age group as a whole, with the share for Cyprus being a little lower than the EU average, according to data released by Eurostat.

Social and environmental characteristics of urban areas seem to play an important role in determining the health status of the population.

In 2021, at EU level, 42.5 per cent of people aged 65 and over living in cities reported that they had a good or very good health status; this was 2 percentage points (pp) higher than the national average for all people of this age group (41 per cent).

In Cyprus, 40 per cent of people aged 65 and over living in cities reported that they had a good or very good health status; this was 1.3 pp higher than the national average for all people of this age group (38.7 per cent).

Eight EU members reported shares above 50 per cent of people aged 65 and over living in cities with good or very good health status. The highest proportions were recorded in Ireland (66 per cent), Sweden (64 per cent) and Belgium (60 per cent). On the other hand, the lowest proportions were recorded in Lithuania (11 per cent), Latvia (15 per cent) and Portugal (21 per cent).

Among the EU countries, the largest difference in the proportion of older people living in cities reporting good or very good health status compared with the national average was recorded in Slovenia (+7 pp compared with the national average), followed by Bulgaria and Croatia (+5 pp).

In contrast, the difference was lowest in Luxembourg (-2 pp), the Netherlands and France (-1 pp). In these countries, the proportion of people aged 65 and over reporting a good or very good health status was lower in cities than at the national level.