According to new calculations released by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) on Wednesday, life expectancy in Germany continued to rise in 2025, although this growth was not uniform across all regions.
In men, gains were recorded in every state, while some regions saw decreases in the life expectancy of women. Bayern surpassed Baden-Württemberg to become the second state to cross the 80-year mark.
Thanks to the rise in life expectancy, all German states now have men whose average lifespan exceeds the pre-pandemic level recorded in 2019. The southern states of Baden-Württemberg and Bayern remained at the top, while Sachsen-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern registered the lowest values. Among women, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, and Bayern led the pack, whereas the lowest figures occurred in Saarland and Bremen. Notably, Thuringia recorded a particularly sharp decline for women, with their life expectancy dropping by six months. Overall, seven states still have women whose life expectancy remains below the 2019 pre-pandemic level.
Michael Mühlichen from the BiB stated that regional disparities within Germany largely persist. In 2025, the gap between states with the highest and lowest life expectancy stood at approximately 3.9 years for men and around 2.6 years for women. In terms of the gender gap, Saarland showed the smallest difference at 3.7 years, while Mecklenburg-Vorpommern exhibited the largest gap at 6.4 years. Pavel Grigoriev of the BiB attributed the differing trends between men and women partly to tobacco consumption, noting that this influence varied both temporally and regionally.
