Juliette Gagliardi
Junior Researcher
State of health in Germany - Statistics & Facts
Despite being the largest European economy, Germany’s life expectancy is underwhelming considering the wealth of the country. As of 2021, the life expectancy for women in Germany was around 83.4 years, while for men it was 78.5 years. This means the average life expectancy in Germany was the lowest among the DACH countries. Nevertheless, almost 60 percent of Germans stated being satisfied with their health as of 2023.
Risk factors and behaviors
The overconsumption of alcohol can lead to developing several health conditions that are harmful and potentially lethal, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and liver disease. Germany is one of the countries with the highest consumption of alcohol worldwide, ranking fourth among the countries with the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in 2019. Smoking is another well-known risk factor and although the prevalence of smokers in Germany amounted to almost 21 percent in 2024, it has decreased by roughly 15 percentage points since 2001. The opposite trend can be observed when it comes to being overweight, with an increasing share of the population across Germany overweight and forecast to reach almost 70 percent of the population by 2029.Mental health
Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health has become an increasingly important issue and a survey on mental health in Germany showed that most people paid a lot or quite a lot of attention to their mental health in 2021. Nevertheless, almost 60 percent said they suffered from depression in the past, or are currently suffering from it, while 25 percent experienced burnout. As of 2022, 58 percent of Germans felt so stressed that at least once it affected their daily life and 36 percent felt so stressed that at least once for a specific period they could not go to work. During the same year, the average duration of sick leave due to mental illness was 36.6 days. This figure was slightly higher for women.Diseases-related deaths
In 2022, most deaths in Germany were due to diseases of the circulatory system, followed by cancer and mental or behavioral disorders. The most common cancer diagnosed in Germany was breast cancer, with more than 75,000 cases, representing 14.2 percent of all cancers diagnosed in 2022, followed by prostate and colorectum cancer. Although not the most common cancer type, lung and bronchial caused the highest number of deaths, with 45.2 thousand.
