STA, 13 November 2019 - A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on health indicators shows that life expectancy in Slovenia is slightly above the OECD countries' average. Slovenians eat more fruit and vegetables than the average, while the country's cancer mortality and suicide rates are above it.
Moreover, Slovenians exercise more than residents of the other OECD countries on average, but they also consume more alcohol and cigarettes.
Slovenia's life expectancy is 81.1 years, which is slightly above the OECD average of 81 years.
The country's cancer mortality is quite above the average though - 243 persons die from cancer out of 100,000 citizens in Slovenia, while the OECD average stands at 201. Slovenia thus ranks third in cancer mortality among OECD countries.
Slovenia's cancer incidence is also slightly above the average - 305 cancer cases per 100,000 citizens, while the average stands at 301.
Some 40% of Slovenian adults have two or more chronic diseases, up over nine percentage points compared to the average. Slovenia is also placed above the average when it comes to the number of patients with diabetes type 2 - 7.3% compared to the 6.4% average.
The country's suicide rate is quite high as well - Slovenia ranks third among OECD countries, falling behind Lithuania and South Korea, with 18.1 persons committing suicide out of 100,000 citizens.
Slovenians smoke and drink alcohol more often than the average - almost 19% Slovenians smoke every day. Slovenia also ranks fifth according to the alcoholism rate.
Meanwhile, Slovenians eat more fruit and vegetables as well as exercise more than the OECD average. Moreover, Slovenia ranks below the OECD obesity rates among both adults and children.
You can play around with some of the data below, and the full report can be found here
