According to the latest Eurostat data, women in Bulgaria can expect one of the longest healthy lives in the European Union.

Only Malta has a higher number of healthy years for women, putting Bulgaria in second place in the bloc, ahead of Italy.

At the same time, women in Bulgaria live more than three years longer in good health than men, which is one of the biggest differences in the EU.

Across the union, the number of healthy years of life at birth in 2023 is 63.3 years for women and 62.8 years for men.

For women, this represents about three-quarters of their total life expectancy of 84 years, while for men it represents about four-fifths of their 79 years.

The data show that in 17 EU countries, women are expected to have a longer healthy life from birth than men, even though men generally spend more of their lives without activity limitations.

Men in Malta, Italy, and Sweden enjoy the longest healthy lives, while the lowest values are in Latvia, Estonia, and Slovakia.

For women, Malta tops the ranking, followed by Bulgaria and Italy, while Latvia, Denmark, and Finland have the lowest healthy life years.

The differences between the sexes are also striking: in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, women live more than three years longer than men in good health.

The Netherlands stands out as the only EU country where the difference is in favor of men by more than three years.

Although these figures provide an important insight into health and longevity, Eurostat notes that they may be influenced by respondents' perceptions of their own health, as well as by social and cultural factors. | BGNES