Life expectancy
The expected age at birth in Hungary in 2021 was only 74.3 years. That is almost a year and a half less than was calculated in 2020.
Apparently in connection with the corona pandemic, life expectancy has fallen drastically in large parts of Europe. In the EU, this fell by 0.3 to an average of 80.1 years in 2021 compared to 2020, but by 0.9 years a year earlier. For the last two decades, there is still a plus in life expectancy of 2.5 years.
On average, men caught up a year behind women. Now their average life expectancy is 77.2 years, compared to 82.9 years for women. In Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg and Italy, citizens live an average of around 83 years and thus the longest in the EU, in Bulgaria they expect the fewest years of life at almost 70 years. Lithuania, Latvia and Romania are also placed behind Hungary, while the other V4 countries Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic have better prospects. Among Hungary’s neighbors, the Croats are also better off (76.7 years), with only Slovenia (just ahead of Germany at 80.7 years) and Austria (81.3 years) also ranking above the EU average.
In Hungary there has not been a comparable negative trend in the development of life expectancy since the 1960s. Because men in this country fell victim to the corona pandemic at an above-average rate, their life expectancy fell more drastically in 2021 from 72.3 to 70.7 years, and that of women from 79.0 to 77.8 years. The difference in life expectancy between the sexes is larger than in Hungary in only six other EU countries.