The Covid-19 pandemic has lowered Europeans’ life expectancy at birth, as well as the number of births and marriages, according to new figures from the EU's statistical office.
Although demographic changes tend to be slow and may not always be noticeable in the short term, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on the European Union's demography, Eurostat said in a report published on Thursday.
As a result, life expectancy at birth in the EU fell from 81.3 years in 2019 to 80.4 years in 2020 and 80.1 years in 2021. It decreased in all Member States except Denmark and Luxembourg, where it remained unchanged between 2019 and 2021. The largest drops were observed in Slovakia (from 77.8 in 2019 to 74.6 in 2021) and Bulgaria (from 75.1 to 71.4).
However, life expectancy increased by 2.5 years in the EU between 2002 and 2021, the statistical office noted. Eurostat also reported that, while it has never stopped decreasing in the European Union, the number of births per woman saw a more irregular evolution during the period 2001-2021.
It rose from an average of 1.43 in 2001 to around 1.57 in 2008-2010, then fell slightly to 1.51 in 2013, before rising modestly to 1.53 in 2019. In 2020, it dropped again to 1.50, then climbed back up to 1.53 in 2021.
Finally, the crude marriage rate, i.e. the number of marriages per 1,000 persons, peaked at 5.0 in 2007. It then remained at 4.1 or above until 2019, when it was 4.3.
In 2020 and 2021, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the marriage rate recorded its lowest values since 1964 (the first year available), namely 3.2 and 3.9 respectively.
In 2021, the highest rates were observed in Hungary (7.4 marriages per 1,000 people), and Latvia, Lithuania and Romania (6.0). The countries with the lowest rates were Portugal and Slovenia (2.8).
