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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 OCTOBER 2016 II Elderly Care Living in the EU: a guarantee of healthy life years? POPULATION ageing is one of the great- est social and economic challenges facing the EU. Projections foresee a growing number and share of elderly persons (aged 65 and over), with a particularly rapid increase in the number of very old persons (aged 85 and over). These demographic developments are likely to have a considerable impact on a wide range of policy areas: most directly with respect to the different health and care requirements of the elderly, but also with respect to labour markets, social security and pension systems, economic fortunes, as well as government finances. Life expectancy has continued to rise sys- tematically in all of the EU Member States in recent decades. Historically, the main reason for this was declining infant mortality rates, although once these were reduced to very low lev- els, the increases in life expectancy contin- ued, largely as a result of declining mortality rates for older people, due for example to medical advances and medical care, as well as improved working and living condi- tions. Nevertheless, there are considerable differences in life expectancy both between and within Member States. While it is broadly positive that life expectancy continues to rise and each person has a good chance of living longer, it is not so clear that additional years of life are welcome if characterised by a range of medical problems, disability, or mental illness. Indicators on healthy life years combine information on mortality with data on health status (disability). They provide an indication as to the number of remaining years that a person of a particular age can expect to live free from any form of disabil- ity, introducing the concept of quality of life into an analysis of longevity. These indica- tors can be used, among others, to monitor the progress being made in relation to the quality and sustainability of healthcare. Nearly 27 million people aged 80 or over in EU In 2015, almost 27 million people aged 80 or over were living in the European Union (EU), 7 million more than in 2005. An increase in both their absolute number and their share in total population is ob- served in nearly every EU Member State. The rising share of elderly people in the EU (from 4.0% in 2005 to 5.3% in 2015) means that in 2015 one in every 20 persons living in the EU was aged 80 or over. The ageing of the population structure is, at least partly, the result of an increasing life expectancy, which grew at the age of 80 from 8.4 years in 2004 to 9.5 years in 2014. Although their proportion shrank between 2005 and 2015, women still accounted for around two-thirds of elderly people in the EU. This overrepresentation of women among people aged 80 or over is observed in all EU Member States. On the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons, celebrated each year on 1st October, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, publishes demo- graphic indicators on elderly people living in the EU. An interactive tool on the lives of people aged 65 or over in the EU is also available on the Eurostat website. People aged 80 can expect to live the longest in France At EU level, life expectancy at the age of 80 stood at 9.5 years in 2014. People aged 80 in 2014 could expect to live at least 11 years more in France, followed by Spain (10.4 years), Luxembourg (10.1 years) and Italy (10.0 years). At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest life expectancy at the age of 80 was recorded in Bulgaria (7.0 years), Romania (7.6 years), Croatia (7.7 years), Hungary and Slovakia (both 7.9 years). This means that there is a 4-year gap across the EU as regard life expec- tancy at the age of 80. Compared with 2004, life expectancy in the EU at the age of 80 rose by 1.1 year in the last decade (from 8.4 years to 9.5 years). A similar trend is observed in all Member States, with gains in life expec- tancy ranging from a bit over half a year in Sweden (0.6 year), Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland (all 0.7 year) to more than one and a half years in Romania (1.9 year), Estonia, Spain and France (all 1.6 year). Women aged 80 in Luxembourg can ex- pect to live almost 3 years more than men. In every EU Member State, life expec- tancy at the age of 80 is higher for women than for men. In 2014, the largest gender gap was recorded in Luxembourg (11.2 years' life expectancy for women com- pared with 8.5 years for men, or a 2.7 year difference), followed by France (2.5 years), Estonia (2.2 years), Italy (2.1 years), Spain and Portugal (both 2.0 years). At EU level, life expectancy at the age of 80 stood at 10.2 years for women and at 8.5 years for men (a 1.7 year gap) Compared with 2004, life expectancy has increased more rapidly for women than for men in a majority of Member States, notably in Estonia (where women gained almost one year of life expectancy more than men) and Hungary (gain of half a year). In contrast, the gap between men and women has narrowed in the past ten years in eight Member States, in particular in Greece and Cyprus, where men gained almost half a year (0.4 year) of life expec- tancy over women. In Baltic EU Member States, about three quarters of 80+ are women In every EU Member State, women were a significant majority among elderly people, with proportions ranging in 2015 from just below 60% in Cyprus (58.9%) and Greece (59.2%) to more than 70% in Hungary (70.5%) and the three EU Baltic Mem- ber States – Lithuania (73.4%), Estonia (75.2%) and Latvia (75.9%). Compared with 2005 however, the share of women among people aged 80 or over decreased in a majority of Member States, with the most remarkable falls being regis- tered in Luxembourg (from 71.6% in 2005 to 64.2% in 2015, or -7.4 percentage points – pp), Germany (-7.2 pp), Austria (-6.2 pp), Finland (-5.3 pp), the United Kingdom (-4.5 pp) and the Netherlands (-4.4 pp). Highest proportion of people aged 80 or over in Italy and Greece In general, Southern Member States registered the highest proportions of elderly people. In 2015, the highest shares of people aged 80 or over were indeed re- corded in Italy (6.5%) and Greece (6.3%), followed by Spain (5.9%), France (5.8%) and Portugal (5.7%). In contrast, Ireland and Slovakia (both 3.1%) as well as Cyprus (3.2%) recorded the lowest proportions of elderly people in their population. Compared with 2005, the share of people aged 80 or over rose by 2015 in all Mem- ber States, except Sweden. The largest increase was registered in Greece (from 3.9% in 2005 to 6.3% in 2015, or +2.4 pp), ahead of Lithuania (+2.1 pp), Romania (+2.0 pp), Estonia and Latvia (both +1.9 pp), Croatia, Portugal and Slovenia (all +1.8 pp), Spain (+1.7 pp) and Italy (+1.6 pp). Healthy life years at age 65 as a share of remaining life expectancy, by sex, 2013 (% of total life expectancy)