40% of people aged 65+ consider themselves healthy

In 2024, more than two-thirds (68.5%) of the EU population perceived their health as very good or good. On the other hand, 8.5% of people rated their health as bad or very bad, with the remaining 23.0% rating their health as fair.

Up to the age of 65, most people rated their health as very good or good. The share was 91.3% among 16 to 24-year-olds and it gradually declined to 61.1% among those aged 55-64. Finally, 40.0% of people aged 65 and older perceived their health as very good or good.

Among the population aged 65 and over, Ireland had the highest share of people who rated their health as very good or good (62.0%), followed by Belgium (57.4%) and Luxembourg (56.8%).

In contrast, only 12.5% of the older population in Lithuania perceived their health as very good or good, 13.1% in Latvia and 19.1% in Portugal.

Source dataset: hlth_silc_10

This article marks the World Health Day, celebrated annually on 7 April.