Even as life expectancy at age 65 has increased across OECD countries, many adults spend a high proportion of their older lives in poor or fair health (see indicator on “Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy”). In 2017, more than half the population aged 65 and over in 35 OECD countries reported being in poor or fair health (Figure 11.6). Older people in eastern European OECD countries report some of the highest rates of poor or fair health, with more than three-quarters of people aged 65 and over reporting their health to be fair, bad or very bad in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, and the Slovak Republic. High rates of poor health are also reported in Portugal and Korea. Women are slightly more likely to report being in poor or fair health than men: 59% of women report their health to be fair, bad or very bad on average across OECD countries, compared with 54% of men. Less than 40% of the total population aged 65 and over reported being in poor or fair health in five European countries (Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands). The lowest rate of poor or fair health for women was reported in Ireland (31%), while men reported the lowest rate of poor or fair health in Norway (also 31%).
In all OECD countries with available data, older people in the lowest income quintile are more likely to rate their health as poor or fair (two in three people) than those in the top income quintile (less than one in two) (Figure 11.7). In every country except Luxembourg, the gap between self-reported poor or fair health among people in the lowest and highest income quintiles is larger than 14 percentage points. In five countries – Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Ireland – adults aged 65 and over in the lowest income quintile are more than twice as likely to report living in poor or fair health, compared with adults in the highest income quintile.
Across 26 European OECD countries, 50% of people aged 65 and over reported having at least some limitations in their daily activities: 33% reported some limitations and a further 17% reported severe limitations (Figure 11.8). Many of the countries reporting the highest rates of self-rated poor health also reported high rates of limitations in daily activities in adults aged 65 and over. In the Slovak Republic and Latvia, three in four adults aged 65 and over reported at least some limitations to activities of daily living, while in Latvia, the Slovak Republic and Estonia one in four adults aged 65 and over reported severe limitations. In contrast, about one in five people aged 65 and over in Sweden (21%) and Norway (22%) reported having limitations in their daily activities, with fewer than one in 12 reporting severe limitations in both countries.
