Bulgarians, Romanians Live Shortest in EU

Bulgaria and Romania have the shortest life expectancy among all EU member states, according to the first Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) "Health at a Glance" report.

In Bulgaria and Romania there have also been significant increases in death rates from road accidents since 1994.

The OECD data shows that Bulgarian men and women live 69.2 and 76.4 years on average respectively. In comparison, the figures for France, which tops the average life expectancy ranking in EU, are 84.4 for women and 77.2 for men.

Bulgaria is in the first place in EU when it comes to heart attack and stroke mortality. The Balkan country tops also the Smoking among 15-year olds ranking.

The overall figures show that life expectancy at birth in the EU has increased from 72 years in 1980 to 78 years in 2007. There have been fewer deaths from heart disease, but it is still the biggest mortality factor in the EU, accounting for 40% of all deaths in Europe in 2008.

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