Every year, the Drees publishes data on life expectancy, but also life expectancy without disability.
Good news! Disability-free life expectancy is still increasing in France, according to a study by Drees (Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics) published this Tuesday, December 31, 2024. This health indicator “corresponds to the number of years that a person can expect to live without suffering from incapacity in gestures of daily life” after 65 years, explains Drees.
In 2023, disability-free life expectancy at age 65 is 12 years for women and 10.5 years for men. This indicator “has progressed regularly since 2008”, according to Drees. The French can thus hope to live almost 2 more years without disability after the age of 65 compared to 2008. That is an average increase of one and a half months per year. The indicator has even increased faster than life expectancy, which is 85.7 years for women and 80 years for men. according to INSEE.
In recent years, with the pandemic, “life expectancies without disability at age 65 have experienced bumpy and significant developments. They increased sharply in 2021 before falling just as sharply in 2022,” reports the government institute. Fortunately, this downward trend did not last, and disability-free life expectancy returned to its pre-pandemic level.
France is at the top of the European ranking, since it is the 5th country in the European Union “for disability-free life expectancy of women at age 65, 2 years and 6 months higher than the European average” , reports Drees. For men, France is in 7th position, with a disability-free life expectancy 1 year and 4 months higher than the European average. French women are even those who have the 2nd best life expectancy at 65 in Europe, and men the 4th. “These developments reflect the decline in age from which chronic diseases linked to aging and limiting people in their daily lives appear,” according to the study.