Women in the north and northwest of Ireland have a life expectancy of 84.9, the highest in the country.
That is according to new data released by Eurostat, the data analysis wing of the European Commission.
Just behind them are the women of the midlands and eastern parts of the country, who live on average to 84.3. Their counterparts in the south have an expectancy of 83.8.
While women in the south may feel hard done by these figures, they are still way ahead of Irish men.
Men in the north and northwest have a life expectancy of 80.5; the east and midlands are at 80.7 and men in the south of Ireland average at 80.1.
During the last decade, life expectancy in the EU rose at a relatively consistent pace until 2019, when life expectancy at birth was 81.3 years.
The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have put a halt to that progress with 2020 and 2021 recording declines in life expectancy.
In 2021, the overall life expectancy at birth in the EU was 80.1 years. The life expectancy for women in the EU stood at 82.9 years, which was 5.7 years longer than that for men, who averaged 77.2 years.
The largest gender gap was recorded in Latvia, where life expectancy at birth for women was 9.8 years higher. The smallest gender gap was observed in the French outermost region of Mayotte, where life expectancy for women was 2.3 years higher than that for men.
In 2021, the overall life expectancy at birth in the EU was 80.1 years. The life expectancy for men was 77.2 years. 👴
— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) November 6, 2023
Highest for men in:
🇫🇮 Åland (82.8 years)
🇪🇸 Comunidad de Madrid (82.2 years)
Read the news article 👉 https://t.co/VvTdWxGOWM#EurostatRYB pic.twitter.com/49FmYdykNl
The highest life expectancy at birth for women was in the Spanish capital region of Comunidad de Madrid (88.2 years), followed by five other regions in Spain.
Outside of Spain, the next highest levels of life expectancy for women at birth were reported for Rhône-Alpes in France and Provincia Autonoma di Trento in Italy (both 86.7 years).
The highest figure for life expectancy at birth for men in 2021, at 82.8 years, was recorded in the autonomous island region of Åland (Finland).
The next highest levels were reported in two Spanish regions, Comunidad de Madrid (82.2 years) and Comunidad Foral de Navarra (81.9), and for two Swedish regions, Stockholm (82.1 years) and Småland med öarna (81.9 years).