Life Expectancy at Birth (2016)
  – Male: 80.1; Female: 85.7; Both Genders: 82.9
Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100,000 live births) (2017): 8
Neonatal Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) (2018): 3
Probability of Dying from any of Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Chronic Respiratory Diseases Between Age 30 and Exact Age 70 (%) (2016): 10.6%

Source: World health statistics 2020: monitoring health for the SDGs, sustainable development goals. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Neonatal Mortality Rate (Deaths Per 1,000 Live Births) (2018): 3
Infant Mortality Rate (Deaths Per 1,000 Live Births) (2018): 3
Under-5 Mortality Rate (Deaths Per 1,000 Live Births) (2018):
  Male: 4; Female: 4

Note: “Under-5 mortality rate – Probability of dying between birth and exactly 5 years of age, expressed per 1,000 live births.
“Infant mortality rate – Probability of dying between birth and exactly 1 year of age, expressed per 1,000 live births.
“Neonatal mortality rate – Probability of dying during the first 28 days of life, expressed per 1,000 live births.”

Source: UNICEF (2019). The State of the World’s Children 2019. Children, Food and Nutrition: Growing well in a changing world. UNICEF, New York.

“In 2017, life expectancy at birth in France stood at 82.7 years, the third highest in the EU after Spain and Italy (Figure 1). It is particularly high among women (second highest after Spain), while only the ninth highest among men. The gender gap in life expectancy in 2017 was 6 years, greater than the EU average and the highest among all western European countries. However, this gap has narrowed by about a year since 2010.”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2019), France: Country Health Profile 2019, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.

“Major improvements in morbidity linked to cardiovascular diseases have been seen in recent years (see Table 1.5). Nonetheless, the growing incidence of diabetes remains a major concern.

“Several risk factors contribute to the burden of noncommunicable diseases in France. The number of adults who are overweight or obese has grown significantly since the 1990s. A 2009 survey found that 13.9% of men and 15.1% of women were obese (DREES, 2011a). Excessive alcohol consumption underlies a large share of morbidity, including cancers, chronic liver disease, psychiatric problems and consequences from accidents. However, alcohol and tobacco consumption per inhabitant has decreased since 2000, the latter due in part to the emergence of electronic cigarettes. Nonetheless, France still has one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in the EU.

“Infectious diseases are responsible for a large share of morbidity. While most often banal, especially in children, infectious diseases pose greater risks for those already in fragile health, including the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. Public health surveillance is concerned not only with the level of vaccination coverage but also monitors four infectious diseases: legionellosis, tuberculosis, AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. The growth in antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria is also a major public health concern.”

Source: Chevreul K, Berg Brigham K, Durand-Zaleski I, Hernández-Quevedo C. France: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(3): 1–218.

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and several other nations.

Page last updated Feb. 28, 2021 by Doug McVay, Editor.