Gender equality: health
Healthy lifestyle and care for own health allows us to increase life quality. In Latvia, life expectancy among males is shorter than among females, which is related to both lifestyle and unsafe conduct.
Population structure and life expectancy
Age structure of the population of Latvia shows that females constitute the largest share of the elderly population, nevertheless boys prevail among the newborn. Higher share of men may be observed until the age 40. Latvia has the highest share of females in the total population among all EU countries (54 %).
Gender gap in various ages is related to several factors, including varying mortality rate in different age groups.
Infant mortality is declining, which is one of the factors increasing average life expectancy. Newborn life expectancy is the number of years that those born in a given year would live on average if the mortality rate at each age remained the same as it was in the year of birth. Of course, as health care in the country improves, mortality rates change, life expectancy in each age group changes, improves. Respectively, a person who has reached the age of 50 will live longer than was predicted at the time of his birth, because now the mortality rates have improved.
Life expectancy reduces due to the accident-caused mortality of young people, especially men, resulting in an age-specific life expectancy gap between genders. For example, in 2022 life expectancy among males aged 30 accounted for 40.4 years, compared to 49.9 years among females. Life expectancy at birth among boys is almost 10 years shorter than among girls (69.4 years and 79.3 years, respectively).
In 2021, healthy life years (also called disability-free life expectancy, is the number of years that a person is expected to continue to live in a healthy condition) in Latvia accounted for 52.2 years among men and 55.4 years among women. The EU average indicator was higher among both males and females – 63.1 and 64.2 years, respectively.
Self-perceived general health
CSB data show that in 2022, 56.0 % of males and 45.7 % of females in Latvia assessed their health as good or very good.
Low self-perceived general health status of women may be related to the large share of elderly female population – the larger the share of elderly, the lower the assessment. In age group 65+ females assess their health as good or very good for 3.8 percentage points less than males. Younger females (aged 25–34 years) assess their health as good or very good for 1.7 percentage points less than males of the same age.
For at least the past 6 months, 7.9 % of men and 10.7 % of women have been severely limited in activities people usually do because of a health problem. Among elderly population (75 years or older), women slightly more often have reported health-related limitations in activities people usually do (4.6 percentage points higher indicator than among men). Until the age of 49, in turn, the indicator was similar for both genders.
Factors influencing health (smoking, frequency of medical examinations, BMI)
Smoking
In 2022, 30.6 % of Latvian men and 9.8 % of women aged 16 and over were smoking daily. 4.2 % of men and 2.3 % of women reported using tobacco products a few times a week or a few times a month, while 64.1 % of men and 87.3 % of women did not use tobacco products at all.
Among men, the highest proportion of daily smokers is in the age group from 45 to 54 years (40.4 %) and from 55 to 64 years (37.2 %). On the other hand, among women, the highest proportion of daily smokers is in the age group 35-44 years (14.7 %) and 45-54 years (14.6 %).
Visits to medical practitioners
Regular visits to medical practitioners and medical examinations allow to find and treat health problems timely. In 2022, 70.3 % of men and 83.0 % of females had visited a family doctor at least once, while 36.9 % of men and 48.8 % of females had consulted a specialist at least once a year.
In 2022 unmet need for medical examination or treatment was reported by 8.0 % of men and 10.9 % of women, of which 23.7 % of men and 25.5 % of women did not undergo examination or treatment because it was too expensive. The second most important reason for not visiting a doctor was excessively long queues for an appointment with specialists - respectively, 23.9 % of men and 29.0 % of women did not visit a doctor for this reason.
Body mass index (BMI)
Data show that obesity and overweight are more common among men than among women. In 2022, 62.4 % of men aged 16 and over were overweight or obese (BMI above 24.99), while among women of this age this proportion was lower – 56.7 %. On the other hand, 1.8 % of men and 2.8 % of women were underweight.
At the age of 16 to 24, most girls and boys have a normal body weight (74.0 % of girls and 68.5 % of boys, respectively) or even are underweight (12.9 % of girls and 11.3 % of boys). On the other hand, overweight or obesity is observed among 13.1 % of girls and 20.3 % of boys. Overweight is on the rise in men over 25: in the age group 25 to 44, the majority of men (61.0 %) are overweight or obese and only 38.5 % are normal weight. Women, on the other hand, maintain a normal or even underweight for longer and become overweight or obese starting at the age of 45: 66.1 % of women are overweight or obese between the ages of 45 and 64. At the age of 65 and over among women, this indicator reaches 76.0 %.
Average age at death and death causes
In 2022, the average age at death accounted for 69.6 years among males and 80.1 years among females.
Diseases of the circulatory system are the most common cause of death in Latvia. Mortality of females due this cause is higher than that of males. The second largest group of causes of death, more common among women, is ischemic heart disease. The next largest group is tumours, which are more common among men. In recent years, mortality due to external causes of death has declined. Men are more likely to die in transport accidents - in 2022, 75.4 % of men. Likewise, intentional self-harm (suicide) is a much more common cause of death among men than among women (83.5 % and 16.5 % respectively) and drowning (78.7 % and 21.3 % respectively).
Gender Equality Index – health
Latvian Gender Equality Index2 calculated by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in the domain Health, which measures gender equality in three health-related aspects: health status, health behaviour and access to health services, is assessed with 78.9 points (EU average 88.5). Main reason behind the low rating lies in the fact that women have a lower self-assessment of health, as well as a lower proportion of women who engage in physical activity.
Methodological explanations
1 An Orphan's and Custody Court, in accordance with a court ruling on establishment of trusteeship, shall appoint a trustee: to a person with mental or other health disorders, whose capacity to act has been restricted by the court; to a person upon whom the court has established temporary trusteeship; to a person whose capacity to act has been restricted by the court due to dissolute or spendthrift lifestyle, as well as due to the excessive use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances; to the property of an absent or missing person; for the execution of a will.
2 The index rating varies between 1 and 100, where 1 stands for absolute gender inequality and 100 for full gender equality.
Data source
Official statistics portal:
IRV020 Population by sex and age group
IRP010 Life expectancy at birth by sex (years)
IMV060 Average age at death
IVP010 Self-perceived general health of population aged 16 and over
IVP060 Limitations (for at least past 6 months) in activities people usually do because of a health problem by sex and age group
VEA070 Body Mass Index (BMI) by sex; 2019
IVP070 Unmet need for medical examination or treatment by reason
Eurostat database:
HLTH_HLYE Healthy life years
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control database:
MOR20 Deaths and death rates by gender
VIP010 Non-medical determinants of health