Determinant factors of life expectancy at birth in the European union countries

The main aim of this article is to explore determinants of life expectancy at birth among 28 European Union countries. Selected variables namely, gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, population growth rate, level of education attained, education enrolment, GDP per capita and life expectancy have been considered for abovementioned countries in the period from 2001 to 2011 on a yearly basis by applying panel data analyses approach. Obtained results reveal that GDP per capita and attained education level together explain between 72.6% and 82.6% of differences in life expectancy at birth (depending on year of observation).