Spain: Health System Outcomes - Health Systems Facts

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Life Expectancy at Birth (2016)
– Male: 80.3; Female: 85.7; Both Genders: 83.0
Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100,000 live births) (2017): 4
Neonatal Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) (2018):
Probability of Dying from any of Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Chronic Respiratory Diseases Between Age 30 and Exact Age 70 (%) (2016): 9.9%

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.
https://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2020/en/
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/332070/9789240005105-eng.pdf?ua=1

Neonatal Mortality Rate (Deaths Per 1,000 Live Births) (2018): 2
Infant Mortality Rate (Deaths Per 1,000 Live Births) (2018): 3
Under-5 Mortality Rate (Deaths Per 1,000 Live Births) (2018):
Male: 3; Female: 3

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.”

“In 2017, life expectancy reached 83.4 years in Spain, the highest level among EU countries (Figure 1). Life expectancy has increased by more than four years since 2000, more rapidly than the EU average (3.6 years).

“The gender gap in life expectancy has narrowed since 2000 as the life expectancy of Spanish men increased more rapidly than that of women. Nonetheless, it remains fairly large, at 5.5 years.”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2019), Spain: Country Health Profile 2019, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.
https://ec.europa.eu/health/state/country_profiles_en
https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/state/docs/2019_chp_es_english.pdf

“Preventable mortality rates in Spain are among the lowest in the EU, driven by low mortality rates from ischaemic heart disease (particularly among women), road accidents and other accidental deaths, and alcohol-related diseases (Figure 9). On the other hand, mortality rates from lung cancer continue to be high (particularly among men) and close to the EU average, reflecting a historical pattern of Spanish men smoking more than women.

“Treatable causes of mortality are also among the lowest in Europe, indicating that the Spanish health system is generally effective in treating people with life-threatening conditions. These favourable outcomes are largely due to low mortality rates from ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases (stroke). Mortality rates from some types of cancer, such as colorectal cancer, are closer to the EU averages.”

“Life expectancy has been increasing since the 1990s. In 2014, life expectancy reached 83.2 years, being the highest at European Union (EU) level and over the EU average of 80.9 years (MSSSI, 2017b), with 86.1 years for women and 80.4 years for men (see Table 1.3). The increasing trend in life expectancy between 2010 and 2014 has been similar both in Spain and the EU, with similar figures for men (1% increase) and slightly smaller for women (0.2% increase in Spain versus 0.5% increase in the EU) (Eurostat, 2017d).

“In the last decade, healthy life-years have slightly improved from 64.5 in 2010 to 65 years free of disease in 2014. Figures are notably higher than in the EU, with 61.4 healthy life-years in 2010 and 61.8 healthy life-years in 2014. Women, in Spain, have experienced a greater increase than men, from 63.8 healthy life-years in 2010 to 65 healthy life-years in 2014. In terms of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), Spain exhibited an improvement from 69.2 DALYs in 2000 to 72.4 DALYs in 2015. The improvement was slightly larger for men (from 66.7 DALYs to 70.6 DALYs), while women improved from 71.6 DALYs to 74.1 DALYs (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2017).”

Source: Bernal-Delgado E, García-Armesto S, Oliva J, Sánchez Martínez FI, Repullo JR, PeñaLongobardo LM, Ridao-López M, Hernández-Quevedo C. Spain: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2018;20(2):1–179.
https://www.euro.who.int/en/about-us/partners/observatory/publications/health-system-reviews-hits/full-list-of-country-hits
https://www.euro.who.int/en/about-us/partners/observatory/publications/health-system-reviews-hits/full-list-of-country-hits/spain-hit-2018

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 Oct. 15, 2020 by Doug McVay, Senior Policy Analyst.