The percentage of people who negatively assessed their health (12% in 2024) was also the lowest since the beginning of the series, representing a reduction of 1.5 percentage points (p.p.) compared to 2023 and significantly lower than those recorded from 2004 to 2014 (between 18% and 21%).

The data, which appears in the publication “Health Statistics”, released by INE on the occasion of World Health Day (April 7), indicate that the Greater Lisbon region has the highest proportion of people aged 16 or over with a positive perception of their health status (60%), followed by the Azores (58.3%) and the Algarve (57.9%).

In 2024, the Central region recorded the lowest frequency of the population with positive self-assessment (46.6%), followed by the West and Tagus Valley and the Autonomous Region of Madeira, both below 50%.

Other data from the publication indicate that last year, 28.7% of the population felt limited in carrying out activities considered normal for most people due to health problems. Of these, 5.5% reported having severe limitations.

The “Healthy life years” indicator, which combines information on the population's life expectancy and the incidence of limitations in carrying out usual activities due to health problems, reveals that, in 2022, healthy life expectancy at age 65 was 8.6 years for men and 7.3 years for women.

In both cases, the values ​​are lower than the averages in the European Union (EU-27), of 8.9 for men and 9.2 years for women.