According to the fifth report published by the Health ministry about health indicators for the Spanish people, life expectancy of 80.5 to 83 years for Spanish women is higher than their counterparts in all other European countries except Italy and Sweden.

What is more, between 1990 and 2002, life expectancy for Spanish men rose from 73.3 to 76.3 years, placing them fourth in the European rankings. For the population as a whole, life expectancy of 79.7 years in 2002 was above the EU average of 78.3.

Across Europe, average life expectancy rose by 2.7 years during the last decade of the last century with the most rapid increases being experienced in the Czech Republic (4 years), Poland (3.6), and Finland (3.3).

However, the report also shows that, although there was a 40% in traffic deaths between 1990 and 2002, the number of deaths on the road in Spain is somewhat above the European average.