The gap is widening between the city and the countryside. According to a study by the Association of Rural Mayors of France, life expectancy is lower in rural areas than in urban areas. In the second case, women gain a year, while men live almost two years longer.
According to two Breton doctors, quoted by our colleagues from franceinfo, this difference is explained by the low access to care, but also by the type of population. “There must be a few civil servants, but there are certainly more workers who have more physical jobs in the rural communes”, articulates one of them.
In France, life expectancy stands at 82.3 years according to the latest figures from INSEE. According to EuroStat data published in 2020, there are notable differences between regions. How long do we live with you? Check out the rankings in our slideshow below*.
And the disparity does not only concern the environment in which one lives: on average, women live up to 85.3 years, while men only up to 79.2 years. How to explain this gap of six years? The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies notes several factors, namely:
*EuroStat data has been classified by French region, according to the breakdown in force before January 1, 2016.