Czech life expectancy passes pre-Covid levels, hits 80 years for first time

After years of sharp decline, life expectancy in the European Union has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to figures released by Eurostat on Friday. The Czech Republic is one of the countries where life expectancy has surged the most, growing by 0.7 years since 2019 to reach 80 years for the first time.

Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, last year saw an overall increase in life expectancy across the EU. Southern European countries like Spain and Italy still boast the highest life expectancies at around 84 years, while countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, and Latvia trail behind.

The Czech Republic, meanwhile, strikes a notable balance as the only country in the EU with a life expectancy between 79 and 81 years. It surpasses two of its neighbors, Poland (78.6 years) and Slovakia (78.1 years), while trailing the other two, Germany (81.2 years) and Austria (81.6 years).

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, life expectancy across the EU experienced a notable decline in 2020 and 2021. However, this trend has since reversed, with Eurostat's latest estimate pegging average life expectancy across all EU countries at 81.5 years in 2023.

While 18 EU member states witnessed an improvement in life expectancy compared to 2019, six countries, including Germany, Estonia, Greece, Austria, the Netherlands, and Finland, have yet to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels.

The Czech Republic saw its life expectancy rise to 80 years last year, marking an increase of approximately nine months compared to 2019. Across the EU, only Romania and Lithuania saw greater life expectancy growth since 2019 than Czechia.

Spain leads the EU in life expectancy, boasting an impressive figure of 84 years, followed closely by Italy and Malta. On the other end of the spectrum, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, and Hungary all report life expectancies below 77 years.

Life expectancy serves as a statistical estimate of the average age individuals born in a particular year can expect to live to, factoring in mortality rates and other demographic variables. Outside of the EU, 2021 World Bank data listed life expectancy in the United Kingdom at 80.7 years and life expectancy in the United States at 76.3 years.

Various factors, from economic conditions to healthcare quality, influence life expectancy. The Covid-19 pandemic notably impacted life expectancy trends globally in 2020 and 2021, but positive progress over the past two years highlights the resilience of healthcare systems and societal responses to public health crises.