While life expectancy in Belgium remained stable between 2021 and 2022 at 81.7 years, there are significant differences between regions, statistics published on Thursday by Statbel reveal.
In Flanders, life expectancy at birth remains the highest at 82.6 years. In the Brussels-Capital Region, this falls to 81.6 years. The lowest life expectancy is recorded in the relatively poorer Walloon Region, where the expectancy is 80 years, two and half years less than in Flanders.
At the provincial level, even greater contrasts can be observed. In Flemish Brabant, the best results are recorded. Calculating life expectancy at birth over a three-year period, residents on average live for 82.9 years. Life expectancy is similarly high in Walloon Brabant (82.5 years) and Limburg (82.5 years).
In the provinces of Antwerp and West Flanders, average life expectancy stands at 82.3 years, followed by 82.2 years in East Flanders.
Four Walloon provinces are below the national average life expectancy (81.4 years) for 2020-22. These are the provinces of Luxembourg (80.1 years), Namur (79.8 years), Liège (79.5 years), and Hainaut (78.7 years).
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These provincial statistics include increased mortality during the Covid-19 pandemic, Statbel warns, and should be interpreted with caution. In 2020, the pandemic led to a drop in life expectancy for the first time in 20 years, falling to 80.8 years.
Nationally, the life expectancy of women still remains higher than that of men. Women typically live for 83.8 years, against 79.5 years for men. However, this gap between the sexes is narrowing, Statbel notes. While male life expectancy increased by 111 days compared to 2021, female life expectancy decreased by 92 days.
