Icelanders Live Longer And Feel Well In Their Later Years

Statistics Iceland has published a report which shows that the lifespan of Icelanders over the past few decades has been the longest and well-being also generally seems to be good as people get older.

A recent survey conducted by the Social Sciences Institute at the University of Iceland has also shown that COVID-19 has not had a significant effect on people aged over 67.

Live long and prosper

Statistics Iceland’s figures published in June 2020 showed that men’s lives were on average six years longer in 2019 than in 1988, and that women’s average life was extended by more than four years.

Icelandic women live on average 84.1 years, which is the seventh longest average life expectancy in Europe, while Spanish, French and Swiss women become the oldest European women.

The average life expectancy of Icelandic men was just under 81 in 2019 and they were in second place among Europeans compared to Swiss men.

Keeping in touch

In the report from the University of Iceland, it states that 40% of senior citizens have said they have not been completely socially isolated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Roughly 8 out of 10 respondents said their mental health had not deteriorated.

About 2 out of 3 respondents said that they were never lonely but over the past 10 years, loneliness has been increasing in the senior group.

It is more common for those who live alone, are unmarried or have lost a spouse to be lonely. About 16% spend more time alone than they would like.

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