The analysis of self-perceived health reveals significant variations among nationals, citizens of another EU country, and non-EU citizens across different countries in the data relating to 2023.
For nationals, Latvia had the highest percentage of bad or very bad self-perceived health at 13.8%, followed closely by Portugal at 13.7%, while Ireland (4.9%) and Malta (5.0%) reported much lower figures.
Among citizens of another EU country, Portugal stood out with 20.8% perceiving their health as bad or very bad, significantly higher than in other EU countries.
"This may be attributed to the older age structure of this subgroup, as Portugal is a popular destination for some EU citizens for retirement," explained Eurostat.
The Netherlands (16.9%) and France (14.1%) also reflected a high share of bad or very bad self-perceived health. By contrast, Malta (1.4%) and Italy (1.9%) showed much lower percentages.
Among non-EU citizens, Latvia had the highest rate at 28.0%, likely due to the significant number of recognised non-citizens (mainly former Soviet Union citizens, who are permanently resident in the country but have not acquired any other citizenship) with an older age structure compared with non-EU citizens in other countries. Estonia (17.5%) and France (14.3%) also reported higher percentages, while Italy (1.5%), Bulgaria and Malta (1.8% each) had much lower rates.
