Romanian ranks among the last countries in the European Union on the life expectancy of the citizens. A Romanian is living on the average 75 years old, according to the 2015 data provided by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
Bucharest and Valcea county are the areas with the most long-lived citizens in Romania, with a life expectancy of 77 years old. Cluj, Brasov and Sibiu come next, with the life expectancy reaching 76 years old. The lowest life expectancy is in Satu Mare, Calarasi, Giurgiu and Tulcea (73 years old), Ziarul Financiar reports.
“If the population is more educated, has a higher standard of living, people live longer for they know how to beware of diseases, have more access to the healthcare services and healthier food. The average life expectancy is higher in more developed areas,” said Marian Preda, professor at the Sociology Faculty of the Bucharest University.
He also said that in the counties where there are more village areas the life expectancy is lower than in the areas where cities and town prevail for in the countryside “there are older people who have a higher death risk, while these areas are also poorer.”
At the same time, it seems that the level of county development is also determining the average lifetime for each region.
“In Muntenia there is a better life expectancy in the counties located in the hill and mountain areas and a lower life expectancy in the plain areas-Bucharest is an exception. In the Carpathians region, the average life expectancy is better, but that also depends on the development level and the education level, as well as on the air quality,” the sociologist added.
Satu Mare is the Romanian county registering the lowest life expectancy in 2015. However, figures haven’t changed too much since 1990, when the inhabitants form Satu Mare ranked almost the last in the top of the most long-lived cities, registering a life expectancy of 67 years old at that time.
The GDP per capita in Satu Mare county was around EUR 5,700 in 2015, 3.6 times lower than in Bucharest, where the GDP per capita was about EUR 28,900 last years. The average GDP nationwide was about EUR 8,000.