German reunification in the European context: life expectancy in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990

Purpose A life expectancy gap exists between the east and west of the European Union (EU), which has emerged during the Cold War. Few eastern countries have so far managed to bridge this health gap. One example of success is former East Germany, where the difference in life expectancy with West Germany rapidly reduced in the decade since German reunification. Did the eight Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries that joined the European Union in 2004 experience a trend in life expectancy similar to that of East Germany?

Methods The difference between period life expectancy (PLE) of each CEE country and the PLE of former East Germany territory was calculated for 1985-2016. The data was extracted from the Human Mortality Database. Trends in the PLE differences were plotted over time to identify periods of convergence and divergence between East Germany and the eight CEE countries. All analyses were stratified by sex.

Results The trends in PLE differences had a concave shape for all CEE countries and in both sexes, indicating a period of divergence between CEE countries and East Germany until the mid-2000s, followed by a period of convergence. The first period coincides with a rapid increase in PLE for both sexes in East Germany. Slovenia was the CEE country that came closest to East German PLE during the analysed period, even exceeding it around 1990 and again after 2010 and 2013 for women and men, respectively. Czech male PLE closely followed the Slovenian trend, but diverged after 2002.

Conclusions No CEE countries were able to match the rapid increase in PLE that East Germany experienced in the first decade after reunification. Slovenia was the CEE country that came closest and has recently overtaken East German PLE for both sexes.

Publication History

Article published online:
02 September 2021