site.btaEurostat: Three Bulgarian Regions Had EU's Lowest Life Expectancy in 2016

ESD 10:32:01 30-10-2018
SN1031ES.104
104 ECONOMY-EUROSTAT-DEMOGRAPHY-ANALYSIS

Eurostat: Three Bulgarian Regions
Had EU's Lowest Life Expectancy
in 2016


Sofia, October 30 (BTA) - In 2016, three Bulgarian regions had the lowest life expectancy in the EU, according to a Eurostat report.

The Bulgarian regions of Severozapaden (73.3 years), Yugoiztochen (74.4 years) and Severen tsentralen (74.4 years) recorded the lowest figures.

According to the analysis, EU's average life expectancy at birth was 81 years.

In 2016, the average life expectancy in Bulgaria was 74.9 years, which placed the country at the bottom of the ranking.

According to national statistics, the regions of Vidin (29 per cent), Gabrovo (28 per cent), Kyustendil and Lovech (26 per cent) had the highest share of aging population.

By contrast, the capital Sofia (17 per cent) and Varna Region (18 per cent) had the lowest share of aging population.

The national statistics show considerable anomalies in the population's age structure over a 25-year period. In 1990, below working age population accounted for 22 per cent, working age population for 55 per cent and beyond working age population for 23 per cent. Twenty-five years later, in 2016, below working age population was 15 per cent, working age population, 60 per cent and beyond working age population, 25 per cent. These figures reflect a decrease in the number of newborns and a decrease in the number of people of retirement age, while the number of those of working age remains unchanged.LN/PP