Luxembourg Ranks 10th for Life Expectancy in OECD Report

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the “Health Overview 2023” a biennial report presenting an updated series of indicators assessing the health status of populations and the performance of health systems for the 38 OECD member countries.

The report is based mainly on the most recent official national statistics as well as European surveys. Its first chapter is, usually, a comparative summary of country performance presenting the main trends. The second chapter focuses on a hot topic which, in 2023, is the level of digital health preparedness. The report highlights, where applicable, the strengths and progress that still need to be made in the field of health in Luxembourg. It also illustrates the importance for Luxembourg of collecting and having access to quality data allowing it to evaluate the performance of its health system, and thus to develop the most appropriate health policies.

The Health Department, the National Health Observatory and the General Inspectorate of Social Security (IGSS) contributed to the preparation of the report for the indicators and comments concerning Luxembourg.

In 2021, life expectancy in Luxembourg reached 82.7 years, securing the 10th best position in the ranking and marking a return to its 2019 level after a drop in 2020. Notably, Luxembourg, along with Iceland and Denmark, stood out as one of the rare countries that did not experience a decline in life expectancy between 2019 and 2021.

Luxembourg witnessed a significant -5.3% drop in deaths in 2022 compared to the average number in the pre-pandemic period of 2015-2019. This decline was the largest and contrasted with the increase in deaths observed in the majority of OECD countries.

In terms of specific health indicators, Luxembourg ranked fifth among countries with the lowest mortality rates from heart attacks and other ischemic heart diseases in 2021, recording 41 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. Additionally, for strokes, Luxembourg secured the fourth position of countries with the lowest mortality, with 35 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

The proportion of the Luxembourgish population exposed to hot summer days has increased by almost 50% since 2000-2004, reaching 22% in 2017-2021. This upward trend mirrors similar increases in the majority of OECD member countries, underscoring the centrality of climate change in current health concerns.

Examining health risk factors, Luxembourg performs well in terms of physical activity and overweight among adults. While slightly below the OECD average regarding overweight, nearly one in two adults in Luxembourg declares themselves as overweight or obese. However, challenges persist in addressing smoking, alcohol consumption, and daily vegetable consumption, as the proportion of daily smokers increased slightly in 2021 compared to the pre-pandemic period.

The section dedicated to access to health care highlighted Luxembourg's outstanding health system coverage. Household spending on healthcare represented 1.8% of total household spending, notably below the OECD average of 3.3%. Furthermore, at the national level, the contribution of households to health expenditure is 9%, significantly lower than the OECD average of 18%. The population's satisfaction rate with the availability of quality health care was reported to be 86%, in third best position after Switzerland and Belgium. In 2021, there was a notable prevalence of medical imaging examinations in Luxembourg, with a rate of 367 examinations per 1,000 inhabitants.

In 2021, Luxembourg demonstrated a commendable standing in terms of the quality and effectiveness of its health system. The Grand Duchy boasted the ninth-best rate for mortality avoidable through prevention, with 104 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, and the second-best rate for mortality avoidable through treatment, with 43 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. The unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant disruptions in health systems globally, resulting in a noteworthy increase in health spending. In Luxembourg, there was an average annual increase of 3.6% in health spending from 2019 to 2022, a notable rise compared to the 1.5% observed in the period from 2015 to 2019. Furthermore, Luxembourg excelled in digital health, with over 65% of the population possessing digital skills and a 70% using the internet to engage with public authorities; however, the availability, maturity and use of health data fell within the average range when compared to other OECD countries.

Finally, while Luxembourg performed well in numerous indicators, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Health noted that additional, comprehensive indicators were required to further highlight the strengths of the country's health system. Despite updates to certain quality indicators and care outcomes using hospital documentation, there was a gap in the report, requiring the inclusion of crucial additional indicators for a more detailed assessment of Luxembourg's healthcare system.

The full report is available at https://sante.public.lu/fr/publications/h/health-glance-europe-2023.html.