Life expectancy in Spain is highest in EU and fourth-highest in the world

Women in Spain typically live to 85-and-a-half and men to 79-and-a-half, putting the average for both sexes at 82-and-a-half.

This has risen by five years and six months since the year 1990, compared to an average of 5.1 years across Europe as a whole.

The OECD puts this down to the 'excellent public health system' in the country.

Switzerland and Iceland, with an average for both sexes of 82.8 years and 83 years respectively, mean Spain's life expectancy is the third-highest in Europe, but is the highest in the EU as Switzerland and Iceland are not among its 28 member States.

Within the 34 countries in the OECD – considered to be the 'first world' and 'emerging' countries – Spain's women live the second-longest after females in Japan, who reach an average of 86.4 years.

Men in Spain have the ninth-highest life expectancy out of the 34 countries described as the 'western world', below Italian men who live to be 79.8 and Swedish men who reach 79.9.

The OECD average for men and women together is 80.2 years, being 82.9 for women and 77-and-a-half for men.

Spain is fourth altogether out of these 34 countries, with Japan's 83.2 years at the top of the list.

None of the three countries ahead of the Spanish population – Japan, Iceland and Switzerland – has anything in common with each other or with Spain, says the OECD, since they all have very different lifestyles, climate, stress levels, education and culture.

Fewer people in Europe die from heart or circulatory problems such as stroke nowadays than they did 25 years ago, the OECD reveals, particularly those aged between 50 and 65.

The average 'healthy' life in Europe is 62.3 years for women and 61.3 years for men – taken as those inhabitants who have few or no medical problems, or whose health issues are very minor – whereas in Spain these ages rise to 65.7 for women and 64.7 for men.

Universal healthcare open to all residents in Spain, and its high quality, are among the reasons for the Spanish life expectancy being higher, according to the OECD report.

This means that as everyone, irrespective of income or social class, or whether or not they have jobs, are unemployed or on a pension, has equal access to medical attention when needed – a situation which is not true of, for example, the USA, where ability to pay and coverage of health insurance, dependent upon level of premium paid, means access to treatment is dictated by how rich or poor the population is.

Also, says the OECD, 'at the moment', the elderly are 'very well looked-after' in Spain, given no less care than younger patients – something which is not always true in certain other western nations where senior citizens complain they feel 'written off because they are old'.

But the OECD warns that the average spending on healthcare in Spain has gone down sharply in recent years, with a decline of 2.5% between 2009 and 2012 and a similar percentage for the years 2013 and 2014.

If this continues, says the report, Spain's life expectancy could also begin to drop.

The figures may be partially skewed by Spain's very low birth rate, says the OECD – at 1.32 children per woman of child-bearing age, it is the second-lowest in the western world after Poland's 1.3 children per fertile-aged woman.

Although the report recognises that the financial crisis is largely to blame for the falling birth-rate in Spain, with women in their 20s and 30s unable to afford to have children due to lack of employment or job security, meaning that by the time they are financially established, they are usually too late, biologically, to start a family – birth-rates are 'typically a volatile factor', the OECD explains, and for truly accurate figures to be considered the number of children per woman should be taken for those who have reached the end of their fertile stage.

This is partly because those at the early end of child-bearing age – typically from 16 to 25 – may plan to have children later or will choose to have more children a few years down the line.

The OECD states that lifestyle and behaviour of young adults and teenagers today are likely to be 'very different' from their own parents or grandparents when they reach middle age or old age, principally due to changes in level of and access to education, types of activity, risk perception and economic climate.

Factors which could lead to a downturn in life expectancy in Spain, or which means that although the population lives longer it may not lead such a quality, healthy life as in countries where people die earlier, have been included in the report.

At age 65, women in France will typically live another 23.4 years and men 19.1 years, but in Spain, women aged 65 will live on average 22.8 years and men, 18.7 years, meaning those approaching retirement in France will be around longer than their Spanish counterparts.

The average population in the OECD of people who smoke is 22.8%, whereas in Spain this rises to 23.9%, and although the typical consumption of alcohol in the over-15s, at 9.8 litres a year, is lower than the EU average of 10.1, it is still much higher than Italy's 6.1 litres – albeit lower than Lithuania's record high of 12.7 litres.

Obesity levels in Spain in the year 2012 stood at 16.6% - showing no significant difference to the EU average of 16.7% - but somewhat greater than Romania's 7.9% and Italy's 10.4%.

That said, obesity levels in the UK have rocketed to 24.7%, not far behind the EU maximum, seen in Hungary, of 28.5%.

Spending per head on healthcare in Spain is fairly low compared to its EU counterparts at 2,243 euros a year, very slightly higher than the typical 2,193 euros seen across the member States – but the comparison has not taken into account dramatic variations in cost of l