The widest gender gap was observed in Latvia, with women living 9.8 years longer. In contrast, the French region of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean displayed the smallest gap, at 2.3 years. The highest female life expectancy at birth was in Spain’s capital region of Madrid (88.2 years), followed closely by other Spanish regions. Outside Spain, the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Italy’s Trento reported the next highest female life expectancy (86.7 years).
For men, the top life expectancy in 2021, at 82.8 years, was in Finland’s autonomous Åland Islands, with Spain’s Madrid and Navarre regions close behind. Conversely, Bulgaria recorded the lowest life expectancy, with men not surpassing 68 years and women 75 years.
Comparatively, Serbian citizens live an average of seven years less than their EU counterparts, with men having a life expectancy of 70.8 years and women 76.8 years. In the Western Balkans, North Macedonia reported an average life expectancy of 73.2 years, Montenegro 73.8, Croatia 76.7, and Slovenia 80.7 years in 2021.
