According to recent data from Statistik Austria, Austrians with higher educational achievements tend to live significantly longer than those with lower education levels. The analysis, released Thursday, highlights a growing gap in life expectancy based on educational attainment.

In 2023, the average life expectancy for women in Austria was 84.2 years, while men had a life expectancy of 79.4 years. However, a detailed breakdown by education reveals a stark difference: 35-year-old men with a university degree can expect to live nearly seven years longer than their peers with only a compulsory school education. The life expectancy gap for women of the same age is about 4.5 years.

Statistik Austria’s Director-General, Tobias Thomas, emphasized that the disparity has widened over time. In 2015, male graduates lived 6.3 years longer than those with the lowest education, and by 2022, this difference grew to 6.9 years. For women, the gap increased from 3.4 years in 2015 to 4.6 years in 2022.

In addition to lifespan, educational attainment also affects fertility rates. Women with lower levels of education tend to have more children than those with higher qualifications. In 2022, women with only compulsory schooling had an average of 1.61 children, while women with high school diplomas and university degrees had lower fertility rates at 1.24 and 1.34 children, respectively.

The data also showed that women with higher education tend to have their first child at a later age. In 2022, women with compulsory education gave birth to their first child at an average age of 29.17, while university graduates had their first child at 33.83 on average. This growing divide between education and life expectancy highlights the impact of socioeconomic factors on health outcomes in Austria.