European Core Health Indicators (European Commission)

The European Core Health Indicators (ECHI) aim to provide comparable information to monitor the state of health at EU level. They were developed starting from 2008, thanks to an EU’s initiative meant to support its Health Strategy. A list of 88 health indicators was produced, coming with precise definitions and implementation procedures. 

Data for over 60 of these indicators are currently collected, grouped under five main chapters: demographic and socio-economic factors; health status; determinants of health; health services; health promotion. They cover up to the 1949-2080 period. 

On its website, the European Commission offers the ECHI data tool, which makes it easy to browse and make use of ECHI indicators and a few other data. The tool permits to select one or more indicators for a given period and to choose one or more countries, as well as average and maximum/minimum values. Data is presented in line or bar charts, maps or tables, which can all be easily downloaded in several formats. Where appropriate, data is disaggregated by sex, age, socio-economic status, and region. Each indicator comes with clear metadata.