According to preliminary data for 2023, life expectancy at birth in the European Union is 81.5 years. Spain leads the ranking with a life expectancy of 84 years, according to data from the EU's statistical office, Eurostat.

According to the data, life expectancy at birth in the EU was 81.5 years, an increase of 0.9 years compared to 2022 and 0.2 years compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Life expectancy in Croatia is below the EU average of 78.8 years.

“In 15 countries, life expectancy was above the EU average, with the highest life expectancy recorded for Spain (84.0 years), Italy (83.8 years) and Malta (83.6 years),” according to Eurostat.

In contrast, the lowest life expectancy was recorded for Bulgaria (75.8 years), Latvia (75.9) and Romania (76.6).

Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary also have a lower life expectancy than Croatia.

Analysts are of the opinion that Spain performs best due to its Mediterranean lifestyle, Mediterranean cuisine, many social contacts and also the fact that the country has a good public health system, as well as government policies aimed at reducing the number of road accidents and fatalities. They also say that there have been no wars in Spain for decades.