Insee Focus · July 2022 · n° 271

Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, life expectancy fell in 2020, particularly in the East and South of the European Union

In 2020, the Covid-19 epidemic spread across Europe. The number of deaths in the European Union (EU) increased by 11%. As a result, the rise in life expectancy, which had been continuous for decades, came to a halt. Life expectancy fell in 2020 in almost all EU countries. On average in the EU, life expectancy at birth fell by almost a year for both women and men. The decline was particularly marked in the countries most affected by the first two epidemic waves, such as Bulgaria, Belgium, Spain and Poland, where it was more than 1.2 years for both sexes. France was in a middle position with a decrease of 0.5 years for women and 0.6 years for men.

In 2021, while life expectancy increased again in Western Europe, it continued to fall sharply in Eastern Europe.