In 2021, life expectancy at birth in Belgium was 81.7 years for the total population. Women have a life expectancy at birth of 84.0 years and for men it is 79.2 years. Life expectancy at birth increased by 0.9 years for the total population compared to 2020 and thus returns roughly to the level of 2019 (81.8 years). This is what emerged from an analysis of the general mortality figures carried out by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on life expectancy

The drop in life expectancy from 81.8 years in 2019 to 80.8 years in 2020 was the direct result of the mortality conditions in 2020. A life table calculates how a generation would die out if, throughout its existence, it were exposed to the same mortality conditions per age as in the reference year. As the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 had a large effect on mortality, it also had a large effect on life expectancy. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Belgian mortality is clearly smaller in 2021 than in 2020, but still seems to be present with a moderate increase in the number of deaths of 2.4% compared to the average in the period 2017-2019. This translates into a life expectancy at birth of 81.7 years which is almost identical to the 2019 life expectancy of 81.8 years. We expect that this effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on life expectancy will continue to diminish in the coming years. It is therefore important to interpret the figures of 2020 and 2021 with caution.

Recovery slightly smaller among men

Life expectancy at birth is increasing for both men (+263 days or +0.72 years) and women (+358 days or +0.98 years) compared to the life expectancy at birth in 2020. However, compared to 2019, a slight decrease is seen among men (-124 days or -0.34 years) and a stagnation among women (+11 days or +0.03 years).

The difference in life expectancy at birth between men and women was 4.8 years in 2021. By comparison, in 1998, the difference in life expectancy between women and men still amounted to 6.3 years.

Highest life expectancy in Flemish Region

Life expectancy at birth is still highest in the Flemish Region in 2021 at 82.7 years. In the Brussels-Capital Region, life expectancy was 81.3 years and in the Walloon Region 79.9 years.

In Flanders, life expectancy at birth increased from 82.0 years in 2020 to 82.7 years in 2021, reaching the level of 2019 (82.7 years). In Brussels, life expectancy at birth has seen the strongest increase of all regions this year with 1.7 years, after the strongest decrease of 2 years last year. The life expectancy in 2021 (81.3 years) is therefore still slightly lower than in 2019 (81.6 years). In Wallonia, life expectancy at birth increased from 78.9 years in 2020 to 79.9 years in 2021, but remains, as in Brussels, lower than in 2019 (80.3 years).

Highest life expectancy in province of Flemish Brabant, lowest in province of Hainaut

In the provinces, life expectancy at birth is calculated over a three-year period, in other words the life tables were calculated this year for the period 2019-2021. Note that this period contains two COVID years, of which certainly 2020 and to a lesser extent 2021 were characterised by exceptional mortality conditions. As the pandemic winds down, mortality conditions are likely to change. Therefore, it is important to interpret this life expectancy at birth with caution.

Life expectancy at birth in the different provinces:

• In six of the ten Belgian provinces, life expectancy at birth in the period 2019-2021 is above 82 years.
• The province with the highest life expectancy is Flemish Brabant (82.9 years), followed by Limburg (82.6 years) and Walloon Brabant (82.5 years).
• Then come West Flanders (82.4 years), Antwerp (82.4 years) and East Flanders (82.1 years).
• Four provinces in Wallonia are below the national average of 81.4 years for the period 2019-2021: Luxembourg (80.1 years), Namur (79.8 years), Liège (79.6 years) and Hainaut (78.8 years).

Methodological note

The life tables (as instantaneous tables) calculated by Statbel indicate how a generation would die out if, throughout its existence, it were exposed to the same mortality conditions per age as in the specified year. In the event of a temporary health crisis with an effect on mortality, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, the life table has major limitations. It is very likely, as the pandemic winds down, that the mortality conditions in the near future will be very different from those observed in the course of 2020 and, to a lesser extent, 2021. The life expectancy should therefore be interpreted with caution.