We live almost the shortest time in the entire European Union: what usually kills Lithuanians?

  

 

 "According to the data of 2021, the expected life expectancy of the population of Lithuania is one of the shortest in the entire European Union, the expected mortality rate from cancer exceeds the average of the European Union, in terms of the number of deaths from ischemic disease and suicides, we are leading in Europe, and on average, Lithuanians spend 17 years of their lives suffering from chronic diseases or having disability.

 

    In the review of the European Commission, which was prepared in 2021, it is noted that the expected life expectancy in Lithuania in 2020 was the third shortest in the EU and 5.5 years shorter than the EU average. Although in 2010-2019 expected life expectancy in Lithuania increased the fastest in the EU, this trend was greatly hindered by the impact of COVID-19 - in 2020 17 percent was registered more deaths than in 2019. Less than half of the population and only a quarter of people living in low-income households reported that their health was good - the lowest shares in the EU.

    2000-2019 expected life expectancy in Lithuania increased by more than four years - from 72.1 years to 76.5 years. However, in 2020 life expectancy fell by almost 17 months to 75.1 years.

 

    This is a much larger reduction than in most other EU countries, reflecting the large excess of deaths caused directly and indirectly by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

    In Lithuania, women live on average almost 10 years longer than men: 80 years and 70.1 years, respectively. This difference in life expectancy between men and women is the largest in the EU and is mainly due to the very high mortality from ischemic heart disease and from external causes, which are more common among Lithuanian men. One of the main drivers of this unequal burden of disease between men and women is the higher prevalence of harmful alcohol consumption among men."