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HEALTH

In which parts of Germany do people live the longest?

Life expectancy in Germany is dropping, but is still above EU average. In which areas of Germany do people live longest and shortest lives in and what are the differences between east and west?

Published: 13 November 2023 16:41 CET
Updated: 14 November 2023 08:36 CET
In which parts of Germany do people live the longest?
Where in Germany do people live the longest? Illustration photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP

When you are looking at where to live in Germany, you might want to consider where people live longer lives. Figures from the Federal Institute for Population Research show an average life expectancy of 82.9 years for women and 78.2 years for men.

This is slightly above the EU average but pales in comparison to countries like Switzerland or Spain. 

In fact, out of the 16 countries in Western Europe, Germany ranks 15th for men and 14th among women. 

Germany’s health minister Karl Lauterbach has called the negative trend in Germany “unacceptable.” He told the Welt broadsheet “we are only good at treatment, but not at all good at prevention – especially for cardiovascular diseases. They are among the most common causes of death in Germany.”

As it so often is, health is wealth.

New figures from Eurostat reveal the areas of Germany where people live longest tend to be in the prosperous south-western state of Badem-Württemburg, with women in the university town of Tübingen taking the top spot and living up to 84.7 years, and the men up to 80.2.

Image: Eurostat

Read more: Everything you need to know about making a doctor’s appointment in Germany 

The former inner-German border between East and West Germany still shows up on the life expectancy maps, particularly for men. East Germany was notably poorer than the West, and many struggled with long term unemployment after the Berlin Wall came down.

The region of Germany with the lowest life expectancy for both men and women is Sachsen-Anhalt, with men living to 75.4 years and women to 82.1.

Almost all of the former east Germany has a life expectancy of between 73 and 78.

Image: Eurostat

Despite the smoke-filled bars and hard partying lifestyle, Berlin is actually an exception to this trend, with men and women there living longer than in any other eastern region of Germany (men to 78.3 and women to 83.8).

Only three regions in the former west are in the same category as the east: just over the Bavarian border in Oberfranken, Arnsberg in North Rhine Westphalia, and Saarland, which has the lowest life expectancy in the former west.

The variations in life expectancy by region are relatively minor, with just 2.6 years difference between the longest and shortest living regions for women, though that rises to 6.8 years for men.

As a comparison, the average lifespan in the EU in the most recent figures is 80.1 years, having dropped from 81.3 over the previous two years.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein have the longest life expectancy in the EU.

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For members

HEALTH

How much more residents in Germany might have to pay for health insurance

People in Germany saw an increase in health insurance costs at the start of the year. It's now expected that they will be hiked up again next year.

Published: 20 June 2024 13:49 CEST
How much more residents in Germany might have to pay for health insurance

Health insurance organisations are warning that costs will be hiked up again soon due to concerns over funding. 

Doris Pfeiffer, CEO of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-Spitzenverband), told Germany’s Tagesschau that insurance funds are expecting a billion-euro deficit.

She said it was a tough year “because we don’t have particularly good prospects”.

For people paying statutory health insurance, things could become more expensive next year. Around 90 percent of people in Germany are covered by statutory health insurance.

The contribution rate is fixed by law and stands at 14.6 percent. The additional contribution that the health insurance funds set for their members was raised to 1.7 at the start of this year. 

The latest increase gave statutory insurance funds the ability to charge up to 1.7 percent on top of the standard 14.6 precent contrinution, though not all insurance funds chose to do so.

The costs are split between the employer and employee, so workers in Germany would pay half of any increase. 

READ ALSO: Reader question: How can I change my German health insurance provider?

How much could additional costs rise next year?

Due to the funding issues, health insurers expect an increase of up to 0.6 percentage points to the additional contribution threshold. What this would mean for the insured depends on a few variables such as their income and their insurer.

Someone earning €2,000 gross per month, for example, would have to pay €6 extra per month if their insurer opted to increase additional contributions by this amount. Meanwhile, a gross income of €4,000 would mean €12 extra per month. The employer’s share would be added to this. 

health insurance cards

Many health insurance cards in Germany double as a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), meaning that they can be used across Europe. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jens Kalaene

“That may not sound like much at first glance,” said Pfeiffer. “But there are people who earn very little for whom this is a lot – supermarket cashiers, lorry drivers.”

It comes following a rise in fees at the start of the year. From the start of 2024, additional contributions for statutory health insurance rose by around 0.1 percent in Germany.

Why are costs increasing?

The German healthcare system is one of the most expensive in the world.

As German society ages more, costs continue to rise – and the Covid pandemic didn’t help matters. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds estimates that this year alone it will cost around €314 billion to provide care for everyone who is insured. 

The money is mainly spent on hospitalisation costs and medical treatment.

READ ALSO: Why long-term care insurance fees are likely to rise in Germany next year

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has so far not presented any concrete proposals on how he intends to relieve the burden on health insurance funds in future.

Instead, the system is likely to face further expenditure. Lauterbach’s hospital reform is expected to drive up costs, while proposals to pay GPs more in order to combat the shortage of doctors would also push up expenses. 

READ ALSO: German ministers greenlight plan to improve healthcare at GPs

Pfeiffer called for a plan to tackle the rising costs.

“We now finally need an approach that puts this healthcare system on a new footing,” she said.

In the coalition government’s initial agreement back in 2021, the parties vowed to support health insurance funds with more tax revenue.

But as difficult budget negotiations take place, it doesn’t look like this will happen. 

This is causing friction among the coalition made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP). 

Green budget politician Paula Piechotta, for instance, is unhappy about this.

The opposition CDU/CSU also taken the opportunity to swipe at the government.

“This is not acceptable,” said CDU health politician Sepp Müller. “The tense situation in the social security system cannot continue to be ignored.”

However, it should be noted that there was no plan to help provide more money to statutory health insurance under the previous Health Ministry headed by the CDU’s Jens Spahn. 

When the SPD’s Lauterbach took over in 2021, there was already a funding gap of billions of euros. 

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