Young people - health

Data extracted in March 2024.

Planned article update: April 2025.

Highlights

In 2022, 90.1 % of 16-29-year-olds in the EU considered themselves to be in very good or in good health.

In the EU, 15.4 % of men and 19.2 % of women aged 16-29 years old reported suffering from a long-standing illness or health problem in 2022.

In 2022, the prevalence of disability among young people in the bottom income quintile was more than double that of young people in the top income quintile (12.9 % versus 5.9 %).

In the EU in 2021, almost 1 in 5 deaths among those aged 15-29 was registered as intentional self-harm.

Share of young people and the total population who perceive themselves to be in good or very good health, 2022

Health is a key measure of quality of life and of high interest for both EU residents and policymakers. According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the EU should ensure that human health is considered in all its policies.

This article presents a range of health indicators, focusing on young people in the EU. The analysis examines how factors such as age, sex and level of income, influence health status and causes of death among people aged 16-29 years (15-29 years in some cases).

Full article

Health status

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. This definition implies different ways of measuring health, such as collecting objective data from health care providers or subjective data on physical functioning, emotional wellbeing, pain or discomfort, and overall perception of health from respondents participating in surveys. This section focuses on three key indicators describing health status: self-perceived health, long-standing illnesses or health problems and disability (activity limitations).

The vast majority of young people perceived themselves to be in good or very good health

Self-perceived health gives an overall assessment by the respondent of their health in general. It is by definition subjective and is expected to include different dimensions of health such as psychological and physical symptoms.

Young people are in better health and consider themselves to be healthier than the population as a whole. The percentage of young people who perceive themselves to be in good or very good health has been relatively stable in the past, with a slight decrease from 92.0 % in 2010 to 90.1 % in 2022. This is significantly higher than the same share in the total population over 16 years of age (67.8 %) and in the adult population between 16 and 64 (77.5 %).

Self-perceived health status varies between EU Member States (see Figure 1). The lowest shares of young people aged 16-29 years who declared themselves to be in good or very good health in 2022 were registered in Denmark (71.1 %), Sweden (75.3 %) and Finland (82.3 %). In Romania, this percentage was as high as 98.0 %, with similarly high shares in Greece (97.4%) and Bulgaria (97.1). Moreover, in Cyprus, Slovakia, Croatia and Malta at least 95 % of young people perceived themselves to be in good or very good health.

Figure 1: Share of young people aged 16-29 years who perceive themselves to be in good or very good health, 2022
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_silc_01)

In 16 EU Member States, at least 90 % of young people declared themselves to be in good or very good health in 2022.
© Fotolia

The largest differences between the self-perceived health of young people and the total population were recorded in Latvia (a difference of 38.8 percentage points (pp)) and Lithuania (37.4 pp difference).

In addition to the objective health status, these differences across EU Member States in self-perceived health may relate to general health standards in Member States, and to cultural differences, for example how people evaluate their personal health or how they disclose their health problems in surveys. In 16 EU Member States, at least 90 % of young people declared themselves to be in good or very good health in 2022. Looking at the relationship between self-perceived health status and an individual’s income situation (Figure 2), a clear pattern can be observed in almost all the EU Member States: higher income is associated with better health.

HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND INCOME QUINTILES

Statistics by income quintile are based on the distribution of (equivalised disposable) income across the population of a given geographical entity. The total income of a household, after tax and other deductions, which is available for spending or saving, is divided by the number of household members converted into ‘equivalised’ adults. Household members are equivalised or made equivalent by weighting each of them according to their age, using the so-called modified OECD equivalence scale: the scale gives a weight of 1.0 to the first adult, 0.5 to any other household member aged 14 years and over and 0.3 to each child below the age of 14 years.

Income quintiles refer to the position in the frequency distribution. Quintiles divide a distribution into five parts so that 20 % of total observations are present in each quintile. The quintile cut-off value is obtained by sorting all observations by equivalised income from lowest to highest, and then choosing the value of income under which 20 % (lower limit), 40 %, 60 % and 80 % (upper limit) of the observations are located. A quintile group refers to the observations below the lower limit, between two cut-off values, or above the upper limit. When distributing a population by income quintiles, the first quintile group includes the one fifth of the population which has income below the lower limit (0-20 % of the population) and the fifth quintile group includes the one fifth of the population which has income greater than upper limit (80-100 % of the population), in other words the richest fifth of the population.

On average in the EU, 86.3 % of young people aged 16-29 years old in the first income quintile perceived their health as good or very good in 2022 compared with 94.5 % in the fifth income quintile. An income gap of the self-perceived health status was observed in all but one of the EU Member States (Latvia). The largest difference in the self-perceived health status between young people with the highest and lowest income quintiles was recorded in the Netherlands (22.1 pp difference), followed by Denmark (21.0 pp), Sweden (14.7 pp) and Portugal (13.3 pp). By contrast, the lowest differences between the first and the fifth income quintiles were observed in Greece (0.4 pp), Italy (1.0 pp) and in Latvia, where the share of those in the first income quintile reporting good or very good health was 2.2 pp higher than for those in the fifth income quintile.

Figure 2: Young people aged 16-29 years who perceive themselves to be in good or very good health, by income quintile, 2022
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_silc_10)

Long-standing health problems

According to the World Health Organisation, long-standing health problems or chronic illnesses (hereafter referred to as long-standing health problems), such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are by far the leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide.

In 2022 in the EU, 17.2 % of people aged 16-29 years reported that they suffered from a long-standing health problem. The lowest prevalence of long-standing health problems among this age group was observed in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy (all less than 5.0 %). The highest rates of young people having long-standing health problems were registered in Finland (35.2 %), Sweden (27.0 %) and Denmark (22.8 %). These differences between EU Member States could be related to cultural differences in self-perception and in practices for diagnosis, management and treatment of long-standing health problems.

15.4 % of men aged 16-29 years in the EU declared themselves to be suffering from a long-standing illness or health problem in 2022; this was 3.8 pp lower than the corresponding share recorded among young women of the same age group (19.2 %). This pattern – a higher share of young women than young men suffering from a long-standing illness or health problem was repeated in a majority (20) of the EU Member States (see Figure 3). The largest gender gap was observed in Finland, where the share of young women was 11.2 pp higher than the share for young men, followed by Sweden (9.0 pp), Denmark (8.5 pp) and the Netherlands (7.5 pp). Among the five Member States where young men were more likely than young women to report long-standing health problems, the largest difference of 3.0 pp was recorded in Slovenia.

Figure 3: Young people aged 16-29 years suffering from a long-standing illness or health problem, by sex, 2022
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_silc_04)

Prevalence of disability (activity limitation)

People with long-standing health problems can experience difficulties in accomplishing everyday activities, which affects their quality of life. Data on the degree of limitation in usual activities due to health problems are used as a proxy measure for disability.

In 2022, 9.5 % of people aged 16-29 years living in the EU reported a disability (long-standing limitations in usual activities) – up 2.0 pp from 7.5 % in 2011. Figure 4 shows that for both men and women the proportions of those with some or severe disability are much higher in the total population compared to young people. Figure 4 also shows that the disability prevalence tends to be relatively stable in time, especially in the case of young people, and that the trends are similar for all groups.

Figure 4: Disability prevalence among young people and adults, by sex, EU, 2010-2022
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_silc_12)

Income level was associated with having a disability in almost all EU Member States (see Figure 5). At EU level, the prevalence of (moderate or severe) disability among those in the first income quintile was more than double compared to those in the fifth (12.9 % compared to 5.9 %) in 2022. This income gap varied considerably across EU Member States: the largest difference between the first and fifth quintiles was registered in the Netherlands where the share of young people in the first income quintile with a disability was 20.4 pp higher than the corresponding share for young people in the fifth income quintile, followed by Sweden (18.1 pp) and Portugal (11.5 pp). Latvia was the only Member State where the share of young people in the first income quintile with disability was lower than the corresponding share for young people in the fifth income quintile, a difference of 4.7 pp.

Figure 5: Prevalence of moderate or severe disability among young people aged 16-29 years, by income quintile, 2022
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_silc_12)

Causes of death

External factors are the main cause of death for young people

Causes of death vary substantially according to age group. More than half (53.9 %) the deaths in the total population were caused by circulatory diseases and cancer (neoplasms) in 2021, while for young people (aged 15-29 years) most deaths (53.0 %) were related to external causes, such as accidents, or intentional self-harm and assault. COVID-19 was responsible for slightly more than 10 % of deaths in the total population in 2021, while among young people the proportion was less than half of that (4.1 %) (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Causes of death by age group, EU, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_cd_aro)

Intentional self-harm implies purposely self-inflicted poisoning or injury and (attempted) suicide.

Suicide is the act of deliberately killing oneself. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorder (such as depression, personality disorder, alcohol dependence or schizophrenia), and some physical illnesses, such as neurological disorders, cancer, and HIV infection.

Source: WHO International Classification of Death Causes

The most important risk factors for suicidal behaviour are psychological and social in nature. Social factors may include discrimination (for example, bullying at school), social isolation, relationship conflicts with family and friends, unemployment or poverty. Mental and psychological problems play a key role in the emergence of suicidal behaviour, with depression and hopelessness being associated with 9 out of 10 cases of suicide. Drug abuse and alcohol use are also determinants; indeed, almost one quarter of suicides involve alcohol abuse. Intentional self-harm may also be the consequence of severe painful and dissembling physical illnesses, in combination with social isolation. Note that suicide rates tend to increase during periods of economic recession and unemployment ^[1].

In the age group of 15-29 years, almost 1 in 5 deaths was registered as intentional self-harm in the EU in 2021, while for the total population the weight of self-harm among other causes of death was less than 1 in 100. It was the most prominent cause of death for young people, surpassing the proportion of those dying in transport accidents (but not the impact of all types of accidents together). In absolute terms, 5 038 young people aged 15-29 years died in 2021 in the EU as a result of intentional self-harm. This is a decrease compared to both 2018 and 2019 (when 5111 and 5108 young people died of self-harm, respectively), and an increase from 2020 (4 947) (see Figure 7).

Figure 7: Deaths of young people caused by intentional self-harm, 2000-2021
(number of deaths)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_cd_anr) and (hlth_cd_aro)

As shown by Figure 8, most deaths attributed to self-harm among young people were recorded among men aged 25-29 years. Young women were substantially less likely to die from suicide and intentional self-harm, with crude death rates for young men (for five-year age groups between 15 and 29 years old) being 1.8 to 3.9 times higher than those for young women in the EU. Nevertheless, while there is a decreasing tendency for the past 10 years in crude death rates associated with intentional self-harm for men, the rate for young women is stagnant or slightly on the increase.

Figure 8: Crude death rates from intentional self-harm, EU, 2011 and 2021
(number of deaths per 100 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_cd_acdr2)

People in their twenties were more likely to die from intentional self-harm than their younger peers.

The crude death rate associated with intentional self-harm is higher for the total population than for young people – even if the weight of this cause among other causes of death shrinks considerably.

Source data for tables and graphs

Health: tables and figures

Data sources

A wide range of statistics, for example, on healthcare systems, health-related behaviour, diseases and causes of death and a common set of EU health indicators, upon which there is EU-wide agreement regarding definitions, data collection and use has been established within the framework of the open method of coordination for health issues.

Health interview surveys are the source of information for describing the health status and the health-related behaviours of EU residents. Three main indicators on health status are collected within the EU statistics on income and living conditions survey on a yearly basis. Complementary information, including health determinants, is collected every three years in a health module within the same survey. More health indicators are collected every 5 years within the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS).

Statistics on causes of death are based on information derived from death certificates. The medical certification of death is an obligation in all EU Member States. All deaths are identified by the underlying cause of death, in other words, the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death (a definition adopted by the World Health Assembly). Although definitions are harmonised amongst Member States, the statistics may not be fully comparable as classifications may vary when the cause of death is multiple or difficult to evaluate and because of different notification procedures.

The causes and groups of medical causes of death chosen have been selected from the summary list of 86 causes compiled by Eurostat in the European shortlist 2012, which is based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) developed and maintained by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Context

WHAT IS THE ‘HEALTH PROGRAMME’?

The main instrument for implementing the EU’s public health strategy is the ‘Health programme’, which contributes to funding projects on health promotion, health security and health information.

The EU4Health programme was adopted as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to reinforce crisis preparedness in the EU. The programme has four overarching objectives:

Improve and foster health;
Protect people;
Access to medicinal products, medical devices and crisis-relevant products;
Strengthen health systems.

Among other topics, a comprehensive, prevention-oriented and multi-stakeholder approach to mental health has been developed after extensive consultation with Member States, stakeholders and citizens, summarised in the 2023 Communication on mental health.

In case you or somebody you know is struggling with the issues mentioned in this article, you can find a support service on the following Mental Health Europe page

Direct access to

Notes

↑ Health statistics — Atlas on mortality in the European Union, Eurostat, 2009 edition and WHO — suicide data.

[1] Health statistics — Atlas on mortality in the European Union, Eurostat, 2009 edition and WHO — suicide data.

[1]