State of Health in the EU Cycle

The 2024 edition of Health at a Glance: Europe examines the major challenges facing European health systems in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report includes two thematic chapters. The first chapter provides a comprehensive examination of health workforce shortages in Europe, a long-standing problem exacerbated by the immense strain the pandemic placed on health systems. It explores the factors behind these shortages and proposes policy strategies to attract, train and retain the workforce needed to build resilient health systems. The second chapter reviews the most recent trends in the health of Europe’s ageing population. With life expectancy continuing to rise and the share of the population over 65 growing steadily, the chapter discusses priorities to promote healthy longevity to reduce demands on health and long-term care systems. The remaining chapters provide a comparative overview of the latest data on health status, risk factors and health system performance across the 27 EU member states, 9 EU candidate countries, 3 European Free Trade Association countries and the United Kingdom.