Health at a glance in Europe 2012

European countries have achieved major gains in population health in recent decades. Life expectancy at birth in European Union (EU) member states has increased by more than six years since 1980, to reach 79 years in 2010, while premature mortality has reduced dramatically. Over three-quarters of these years of life can be expected to be lived free of activity limitation. Gains in life expectancy can be explained by improved living and working conditions and some health-related behaviours, but better access to care and quality of care also deserves much credit, as shown, for instance, by sharply reduced mortality rates following a heart attack or stroke.

Many health improvements have come at considerable financial cost. Until 2009, health spending in European countries grew at a faster rate than the rest of the economy, and the health sector absorbed a growing share of the gross domestic product (GDP). Following the onset of the financial and economic crisis in 2008, many European countries reduced health spending as part of broader efforts to reign in large budgetary deficits and growing debt-to-GDP ratios. Although these cuts might have been unavoidable, some measures may have an impact on the fundamental goals of health systems. Continuous monitoring of data and indicators on health and health systems is therefore important; it provides indications of the potential short and longer-term impact of changing economic circumstances and health policies on health care access, quality and health outcomes.

This second edition of Health at a Glance: Europe presents the most recent comparable data for selected indicators of health and health systems in 35 European countries – the 27 member states of the European Union, five candidate countries and three EFTA countries – up to 2010. The selection of indicators has been based on the European Community Health Indicators (ECHI) shortlist, a list of indicators that has been developed by the European Commission to guide the development and reporting of health statistics. In addition, the publication provides detailed information on health expenditure and financing trends, using results from the OECD, Eurostat and WHO annual joint health accounts questionnaire. It also includes a new chapter on quality of health care, reflecting the progress achieved under the OECD Health Care Quality Indicators project. The data presented here come mainly from official national statistics, collected individually or jointly by the OECD, Eurostat or WHO-Europe, as well as multi-country surveys such as the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey.

Health at a Glance: Europe 2012 presents trends over time and variations across European countries under five broad topics: 1) population health status; 2) risk factors to health; 3) resources and activities of health care systems; 4) quality of care for chronic and acute conditions; and 5) health expenditure and financing sources. It offers some explanation for these variations, providing background for further research and analysis to understand more fully the causes underlying such variations and to develop policy options to reduce gaps with those countries that are achieving better results. Many indicators provide a breakdown by sex and age in each country, and several include a further breakdown by income or education levels. These indicators show that there may be as much variation within a country by sub-national regions, socio-economic groups or ethnic/racial groups as there is across countries.

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