Longevity and Environmental Perception: Introducing Life Years without Pollution or Noise Across Europe

Natalija Miric , University of Belgrade Faculty of Geography Department of Demography
Aleksandra Anic, University of Belgrade-Faculty of Economics and Business

Environmental degradation poses a growing threat to public health and longevity across Europe, with air and noise pollution contributing significantly to premature mortality and reduced quality of life. This paper introduces a novel indicator “Life Years without Pollution or Noise” which integrates life table data with subjective perceptions of environmental exposure across 25 European countries. Using data from the EU-SILC survey and national life tables, the indicator is calculated via the Sullivan method, weighting age-specific person-years lived by the age-specific proportions of individuals not exposed to pollution or noise. The results reveal a striking reversal of conventional longevity patterns: Southern and Mediterranean countries, typically ranked high in life expectancy, report some of the lowest values for life years lived without pollution or noise, driven by widespread perceptions of environmental stress. In contrast, several Eastern European countries, despite less favorable mortality conditions, show significantly higher values for this indicator and narrower gaps between total life expectancy and environmentally adjusted life years. This heterogeneity highlights the complexity of environmental health assessments, where infrastructure, policy, and cultural factors intersect with individual perceptions. Notably, differences in life years without pollution or noise exceed those observed in overall life expectancy, underscoring the need for mortality indicators that incorporate environmental dimensions. Despite limitations, such as cultural bias and variability in awareness, subjective indicators remain essential for capturing lived experience. Integrating them with objective metrics enables more holistic assessments of public health and supports the development of inclusive, environmentally responsive policy frameworks.

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 Presented in Session P8. Demographic Trends, History, Data and Methods