For twenty years, the Estonian Social Survey has asked Estonian residents to assess their own health. The results show that, over the years, there has been an increase in the number of people who have a long-term illness. On the other hand, there are also more people who rate their health as good. Epp Remmelg, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, describes self-perceived health in Estonia and also looks at how we compare with other countries.
“Overall, compared with the time 20 years ago, there are now more residents in Estonia living with a long-term illness: their share was 41% in 2004 and 47% in 2023. But, on a positive note, there has also been a slight increase in the share of residents whose self-perceived health is very good or good – from 50% in 2004 to 56% in 2023,” explained Remmelg.
She added that 2020 had the best result of the last 20 years, when as much as 59% of the population said that their health was good or very good.
Self-perceived health has improved significantly among middle-aged and elderly people
We know that health tends to deteriorate as people age. Here, there are some differences between men and women. For example, among females aged 25–34, the share of those in very good or good health is the same (85%) as in the age group 16–24. However, among 25–34-year-old males, the share of those reporting to be in very good or good health is just 80%.
There is a difference also in age group 55–64: middle-aged women consider their health to be better than middle-aged men. Yet among people aged over 65, the share of women perceiving their health as bad or very bad is bigger than the share of men who think so – this may be influenced by the fact that women’s average life expectancy is longer.
Remmelg said that there have been several positive changes in the two decades that these data have been collected with the Estonian Social Survey.
“Among young people, the share of those in very good or good health has grown
by a few percentage points, while this share among the middle-aged and elderly population has increased by about 10 percentage points. It is also good to see that, among residents aged over 65, there has been a considerable increase in the share of those whose everyday activities are not limited by health problems,” said Remmelg.
People in Lääne and Harju counties have the best self-perceived health, while long-term illnesses are the most common in Ida-Viru county
Based on last year’s data, the share of people satisfied with their health is the highest in Lääne (62.5%) and Harju (62.4%) counties and in Tallinn city (62.1%). The share of population considering their health good or very good was the lowest in Ida-Viru county (37.9%).
Dissatisfaction with one’s health was the greatest among the population of Põlva county where 24% of residents considered their health bad or very bad. A long-term illness refers to an illness or health problem that has lasted or is expected to last for at least six months. Both mental and physical health may be affected.
The share of population with a long-term illness is the highest (62.5%) in Ida-Viru county, where 22.7% of residents consider their health bad or very bad. The share of population aged 16 or over who have a long-term illness is 58.6% in Valga county, 55.1% in Võru county, 53.3% in Järva county and 53.2% in Põlva county. This share is the lowest in Harju county (39.9%) and in Tallinn (40.1%).
Remmelg said that self-perceived health in counties depends on the age structure of the specific county, but people’s assessments of their health are also influenced by other factors, such as living, working and environmental conditions.
“The older the population, the higher the prevalence of long-term illnesses among residents.
In Ida-Viru county, there are other problems as well: several large industries have damaged the eco-system, thereby directly impacting self-perceived health in the affected region,” explained Remmelg.
The Estonian Social Survey is based on a common methodology that is used across Europe, which allows us to see how self-perceived health in Estonia compares with people’s health assessments in other European countries.
“At the moment, we can compare data for 2022, as the data for 2023 have not yet been published by all countries. In Estonia, 58% of people perceive their health to be good or very good, while in Lithuania this share is 48% and the European average is 68%. Ireland and Switzerland have the highest share of people (80%) who consider their health very good or good,” noted Remmelg.
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