2023-12-22 05:00:30
Published on Dec 22 2023 at 6:00
If life expectancy increases further, are the French aging in better health? Not according to the latest figures from the Drees (Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics). Statisticians note that disability-free life expectancy at age 65 fell in 2022 compared to the previous year, even if the trend remains improving since 2008.
Disability-free life expectancy corresponds to the number of years during which a person lives without being limited in their daily life by a health problem. This indicator at age 65 is particularly revealing when it comes to the state of health of young retirees.
Return to 2020 level
In 2022, disability-free life expectancy at age 65 is 11.8 years for women, or 0.8 years less than the previous year. For men, it is 10.2 years, or 1.1 years less than in 2021. A return to 2020 levels, in short. Likewise, life expectancy without severe disability at age 65 has fallen compared to 2021, to 18.3 years for women and 15.5 for men.
However, “it is more relevant to identify trends over several years, which allows us to be less influenced by the sometimes brutal fluctuations from one year to the next”, cautiously underlines the Drees. We will therefore have to wait and see if the trend continues in the years to come.
Drees specifies that since 2008, the situation has significantly improved. On average, women live 1 year and nine months longer in good health than 15 years ago, while it’s 1 year and 6 months longer for their male counterparts.
Good place in Europe
In addition, since the health crisis, disability-free life expectancy at age 65 has been shaken up. After years of almost constant increase, it fell in 2020 with the appearance of the Covid virus. The following year, on the contrary, it rebounded strongly.
It is still too early to know whether, despite this decline, France maintains its lead over the European average. Last year, France ranked 2e place in Europe for healthy life expectancy of women at 65, and at 3e for men. For the latter, it was 1 year and 10 months longer than the European average (9.5 years), while for women, it was 2 years and 8 months longer than the Old Continent average (9.9 years).
Regarding life expectancy without disability at birth, which by definition takes into account all ages and life events, this has also fallen significantly in 2022 compared to last year. It went from 67 to 65.3 years for women, and from 65.6 to 63.8 for men.
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