Life expectancy in Estonia is 79.8 years, healthy life expectancy is 57.3 years
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2025, life expectancy at birth was 79.8 years in Estonia. The number of healthy life years at birth was 57.3 years in 2025, which means that the indicator fell to the level of 2021 and 2022.
Epp Remmelg, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that life expectancy has shown a steady uptrend in Estonia, with the exception of the pandemic years. “Last year, compared with 2024, life expectancy increased by 0.5 years for men and by 0.1 years for women,” said Remmelg. She added that since 1995, when life expectancy at birth was 67.6 years, it has increased by 12.2 years and reached 79.8 years in 2025.
Life expectancy in Latvia and Lithuania has been lower than in Estonia – in 2024, it was 77.5 years in Lithuania and 76.4 years in Latvia. Latvia has the one of the lowest life expectancies in Europe. On the other hand, in Finland, life expectancy was already 76.7 years in 1995 and has now increased by 5.5 years to 82.2 years. Life expectancy in Estonia is below the European average which was 81.5 years in 2024. Switzerland and Spain are the European countries with the highest life expectancies – over 84 years.
“In Estonia as well as in the other Baltic countries, life expectancy for men is much lower than for women. Male life expectancy is 75.6 years and female life expectancy is 83.6 years. The difference in male and female life expectancies has decreased over the years,” noted Remmelg.
Regionally, life expectancy is the highest on the islands and in Tartu and Harju counties
Remmelg explained that life expectancy is calculated on the basis of the mortality conditions in the reference year. “In recent years, mortality indicators have been stable and, therefore, life expectancy has continued to grow. Longer life expectancy reflects socioeconomic development and also correlates with other factors, such as place of residence and level of education,” said Remmelg.
In 2025, life expectancy in Estonia was the highest on the islands and in Tartu and Harju counties – over 80 years in each of these regions. Valga county had the lowest life expectancy at 77.3 years. It was followed by Lääne-Viru, Jõgeva and Ida-Viru counties. It should be noted that Ida-Viru county used to have the lowest life expectancy but now ranks fourth from last.
“Educational attainment influences the standard of living, which in turn has an impact on health and life expectancy. Thus, women with higher education, for example, have an average life expectancy of 86.1 years, while men with below upper secondary education can expect to live 69.8 years,” said Remmelg.
Retirement age will depend on remaining life expectancy
Life expectancy can be calculated at birth and also at any other age. For example, life expectancy for 65-year-olds (i.e. people currently in retirement age) is 19.3 years, specifically 21.4 years for women and 16.3 years for men. In the coming years, life expectancy at 65 will determine the retirement age.
Life expectancy and healthy life years, 2005–2025
| Life expectancy, males | Life expectancy, females | Healthy life years, males | Healthy life years, females | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 67.64 | 78.29 | 48.1 | 52.1 |
| 2006 | 67.68 | 78.60 | 49.7 | 53.9 |
| 2007 | 67.49 | 78.80 | 49.6 | 54.7 |
| 2008 | 68.90 | 79.41 | 52.7 | 57.2 |
| 2009 | 69.98 | 80.06 | 54.8 | 59.0 |
| 2010 | 70.84 | 80.54 | 54.1 | 58.1 |
| 2011 | 71.34 | 81.01 | 53.9 | 57.7 |
| 2012 | 71.36 | 81.17 | 53.0 | 57.0 |
| 2013 | 72.70 | 81.33 | 53.7 | 56.7 |
| 2014 | 72.32 | 81.54 | 53.1 | 57.1 |
| 2015 | 73.08 | 81.85 | 53.6 | 56.1 |
| 2016 | 73.17 | 81.90 | 54.2 | 58.7 |
| 2017 | 73.65 | 82.34 | 54.5 | 59.0 |
| 2018 | 73.86 | 82.44 | 52.8 | 55.6 |
| 2019 | 74.41 | 82.77 | 54.1 | 57.6 |
| 2020 | 74.36 | 82.77 | 55.5 | 59.5 |
| 2021 | 72.76 | 81.40 | 54.9 | 58.0 |
| 2022 | 73.61 | 82.29 | 57.9 | 60.6 |
| 2023 | 74.50 | 83.06 | 56.4 | 59.5 |
| 2024 | 75.09 | 83.44 | 56.8 | 60.6 |
| 2025 | 75.60 | 83.57 | 55.2 | 59.3 |
The number of healthy life years decreased
Life expectancy is rising in Estonia while the number of healthy life years at birth varies from year to year. The average number of healthy life years decreased by 1.4 years compared with 2024 and stood at 57.3 years. Men live disability-free for 55.2 years and women for 4.1 years longer than that, i.e. for 59.3 years. Compared with 2024, the number of healthy life years decreased by one year and two months for women and by more than 1.5 years for men.
The decrease in healthy life years has been more significant for young people (aged up to 35) and non-Estonians. There has been no comparable decrease in the older age groups.
Self-perceived health is a key component of the healthy life years indicator. In recent years, there has been a fall in the share of young people and people in younger middle age who perceive their health to be very good or good. At the same time, in these age groups, there is a growing share of people who say that they have a long-standing illness or health problem.
People with a higher level of education live longer in good health, on average
“Similarly to life expectancy, the number of healthy life years is also influenced by education and place of residence. From year to year, we can see that residents of urban areas live a few more years in good health, compared with residents of rural areas. The difference was 2.8 years last year,” explained Remmelg.
The average number of healthy life years for people with higher education is 13.8 years higher than for people with below upper secondary education. Combined with the gender differences in healthy life expectancy, this means that men with below upper secondary education have less than 50 healthy life years, while women with higher education can expect to live in good health for more than 64 years, i.e. almost until retirement.
Life expectancy at 65 is 16.3 years for men and 21.4 years for women, while the number of healthy life years for men and women now aged 65–69 is 6.6 and 8.4 years, respectively.
Life expectancy at birth is defined as the mean number of years that a new-born child is expected to live if subjected throughout their life to current mortality conditions. The methodology used to calculate life expectancy is described in detail here.
2024 data on life expectancy in other European countries can be found in the Eurostat database.
Healthy life years (i.e. disability-free life expectancy) at birth is defined as the mean number of years that a person is expected to live without limitations to everyday activities if subjected to current mortality and public health conditions. A component for calculating this indicator is survey information on the extent to which a person has been restricted because of a health problem in activities that people normally do during at least the last six months. Only responses where a person said that he or she has not had any health-related limitations are taken into consideration.
The main representative of public interest for the statistical activities “Population” and “Estonian Social Survey” is the Ministry of Social Affairs, commissioned by whom Statistics Estonia analyses the data.
Data as at 26 May 2026 are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.
More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.
When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.
For further information:
Annaliisa Köss
Media Relations Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee