The Taoiseach says the findings are “strong evidence of the great strides” in improving public health in Ireland.
New data shows that Irish people had the highest life expectancy in the European Union in 2020.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, has published analysis regarding life expectancy at birth for each European Union country.
This is the most commonly used indicator for examining mortality and is the mean number of years that a person can expect to live at birth if subjected to current mortality conditions throughout the rest of their life.
According to Eurostat’s data, Irish people in 2020 were found to have the highest life expectancy in the EU at 82.6 years.
The life expectancy for men in the country at the time was 80.8 years and for women was 84.4 years.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin shared the Eurostat data on Twitter, adding that in 2000, Ireland ranked in 16th place.
He said the findings were “strong evidence of the great strides in improving public health” in the country in recent decades.
Latest @EU_Eurostat analysis shows Irish people had the highest life expectancy in the EU in 2020.
In 2000, we were in 16th place.
Strong evidence of the great strides in improving public health in recent decades. pic.twitter.com/jyq8tQDywv
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) April 27, 2022
Life expectancy at birth in the EU overall, meanwhile, was estimated at 80.4 years in 2020, 0.9 years lower than in the previous year.
It reached 83.2 years for women and 77.5 years for men.
During the past century, life expectancy at birth has increased rapidly due to a number of factors.
These include a reduction in infant mortality, rising living standards, improved lifestyles, better education and advances in healthcare and medicine.
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