Figure 1.Italy’s lifespan–healthspan divide. Life expectancy (LE) at birth substantially exceeds Healthy Life Years (HLY) in both women and men in Italy. In 2023, women had a life expectancy of 85.4 years and 69.6 HLY, corresponding to a 15.8-year LE–HLY gap; men had a life expectancy of 81.4 years and 68.5 HLY, corresponding to a 12.9-year gap. HLY is used here as a population-level proxy of healthspan, defined as expected years lived without long-standing activity limitation. The LE–HLY gap should therefore not be interpreted as all years lived with diagnosed disease, but as an indicator of the mismatch between longevity and years lived without substantial health-related activity limitation.
