eurostat

Self-reported disability

Chart 1. Percentage of the population reporting disability

Almost 85.5 % of the EU-14 population aged 16 to 64 do not report a disability as defined here. 4.5 % report a severe disability and 10 % report a moderate disability. This average masks disparities between countries: only 77 % of the Finnish population report no disability, compared with 92 % in Italy. In some cases, absolute differences between countries in terms of levels of disability are large. These differences may partly be the result of different interpretations of notions such as moderate and severe in the EU countries. The boundaries between no disability, moderate disability or severe disability can vary from one country to another. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the analyses in some of the following tables and graphs show that the profile of the population with moderate disabilities is close to the profile of the population without any disability in some countries, but close to the profile of those reporting severe disability in others.
Percentage of the population reporting severe, moderate and no disability, age group 1664, EU-14, 1996 Severe Moderate No 4.5 %

10 %

85.5 %

EU-14

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Self-reported disability

Percentage of the population reporting severe, moderate and no disability in 14 EU countries, age group 1664, 1996
B Severe Moderate No Total 4.6 % 8.3 % 87.1 % 100 % DK 4.7 % 12.7 % 82.6 % 100 % D 4.6 % 12.7 % 82.7 % 100 % EL 3.3 % 4.9 % 91.8 % 100 % E 3.3 % 6.6 % 90.1 % 100 % F 6.0 % 9.3 % 84.7 % 100 % IRL 2.5 % 8.4 % 89.1 % 100 % I 2.3 % 5.5 % 92.2 % 100 % L 4.3 % 12.1 % 83.5 % 100 % NL 5.8 % 12.7 % 81.5 % 100 % A 3.2 % 9.3 % 87.5 % 100 % P 7.5 % 10.9 % 81.6 % 100 % FIN 6.2 % 16.7 % 77.1 % 100 % UK 5.7 % 13.2 % 81.2 % 100 % EU-14 4.5 % 10.0 % 85.5 % 100 %

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Self-reported disability

Percentage of the population reporting severe and moderate disability in 14 EU countries, age group 1664, 1996

20 %

15 %

10 %

5%

0% B DK D EL E F IRL Severe I L NL A P FIN UK EU-14

Moderate

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Self-reported disability

Chart 2. Gender differences in the reporting of disability

At European level, in the population aged 16 to 64 years, almost 15 % of women and 14 % of men report either a moderate or severe disability. 4.7 % of men and 4.3 % of women report a severe disability, while a higher proportion of women (10.6 %) than men (9.3 %) report a moderate disability. As shown for the different EU countries, differences between men and women are larger for the moderate level of disability than for the severe level. The slight excess of disability observed for females at Community level can also be found at national level in most cases. However, taking all levels of disability together, the relationship is reversed in Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, and is negligible in some other countries.

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Self-reported disability

Percentage of the population reporting severe, moderate and no disability, by sex, age group 1664, EU-14, 1996

Severe Moderate No 4.7 % 9.3 %

Severe Moderate No 4.3 % 10.6 %

86 % 85.1 %

Men

Women

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Self-reported disability

Percentage of the population reporting severe, moderate and no disability in 14 EU countries, by sex, age group 1664, 1996
Men B Severe Moderate No Total 5.0 % 7.9 % 87.1 % 100 % DK 4.6 % 10.1 % 85.3 % 100 % D 5.2 % 12.4 % 82.4 % 100 % EL 3.5 % 4.2 % 92.4 % 100 % E 3.6 % 6.2 % 90.3 % 100 % F 6.0 % 8.8 % 85.2 % 100 % IRL 2.7 % 8.1 % 89.3 % 100 % Women B Severe Moderate No Total 4.2 % 8.7 % 87.1 % 100 % DK 4.8 % 15.4 % 79.8 % 100 % D 4.0 % 12.9 % 83.1 % 100 % EL 3.2 % 5.5 % 91.3 % 100 % E 3.0 % 7.0 % 90.0 % 100 % F 6.0 % 9.8 % 84.3 % 100 % IRL 2.2 % 8.8 % 89.0 % 100 % I 2.4 % 5.7 % 91.9 % 100 % L 4.1 % 11.4 % 84.6 % 100 % NL 6.8 % 14.0 % 79.2 % 100 % A 3.4 % 8.5 % 88.2 % 100 % P 8.2 % 11.9 % 80.0 % 100 % FIN 5.8 % 18.4 % 75.9 % 100 % UK 5.1 % 14.5 % 80.5 % 100 % EU-14 4.3 % 10.6 % 85.1 % 100 % I 2.1 % 5.4 % 92.5 % 100 % L 4.6 % 12.9 % 82.5 % 100 % NL 4.7 % 11.4 % 83.9 % 100 % A 3.1 % 10.1 % 86.8 % 100 % P 6.7 % 9.9 % 83.4 % 100 % FIN 6.7 % 15.0 % 78.3 % 100 % UK 6.4 % 11.6 % 82.0 % 100 % EU-14 4.7 % 9.3 % 86.0 % 100 %

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Self-reported disability

Percentage of the population reporting severe and moderate disability in 14 EU countries, by sex, age group 1664, 1996 20 % 20 %

15 %

15 %

10 %

10 %

5%

5%

0% B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN UK EU-14 Severe Men 14 Moderate

0% B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN UK EU-14 Severe Moderate

Women

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Self-reported disability

Chart 3. Age-specific percentages of persons reporting disability

The percentage of persons reporting a disability (all levels combined) increases with age. This trend can be seen in all of the 14 countries under consideration, although the rate of progression differs from one country to another. Finland shows the most rapid progression and reaches the highest level of disability prevalence from the age of 40 onwards, with more than 52 % of 6064 year-olds reporting a disability. Belgium, Greece, Ireland and Italy have the smallest percentage in each age group (about 20 % for 6064 year-olds). Age-specific percentages of persons reporting disability, all levels combined, in 14 EU countries, age group 1664, 1996
B 16 to 19 20 to 24 25 to 29 30 to 34 35 to 39 40 to 44 45 to 49 50 to 54 55 to 59 60 to 64 Total 15 3.0 % 4.5 % 6.7 % 6.9 % 10.4 % 14.3 % 14.6 % 20.2 % 27.3 % 22.2 % 12.9 % DK 11.6 % 9.9 % 10.4 % 10.6 % 16.3 % 13.9 % 19.5 % 23.9 % 31.7 % 35.6 % 17.4 % D 7.0 % 8.5 % 8.6 % 8.0 % 11.1 % 12.9 % 16.8 % 25.4 % 33.5 % 35.1 % 17.3 % EL 1.8 % 1.5 % 2.7 % 3.9 % 3.9 % 5.9 % 9.5 % 13.9 % 16.5 % 23.6 % 8.2 % E 2.6 % 1.9 % 3.2 % 4.8 % 6.1 % 8.2 % 9.6 % 15.7 % 24.5 % 32.2 % 9.9 % F 7.6 % 7.5 % 8.1 % 9.6 % 12.7 % 13.3 % 17.5 % 20.9 % 31.1 % 34.3 % 15.3 % IRL 3.4 % 6.0 % 8.0 % 8.0 % 9.2 % 12.8 % 14.1 % 15.1 % 16.3 % 23.8 % 10.9 % I 3.3 % 1.9 % 2.4 % 3.4 % 3.9 % 6.1 % 7.1 % 13.0 % 15.6 % 22.5 % 7.8 % L 12.7 % 5.6 % 6.8 % 10.5 % 14.0 % 12.8 % 20.4 % 25.4 % 29.2 % 32.4 % 16.5 % NL 11.4 % 12.3 % 9.9 % 12.2 % 15.6 % 17.1 % 21.8 % 24.9 % 30.7 % 34.8 % 18.5 % A 3.3 % 3.0 % 5.1 % 5.6 % 8.8 % 9.3 % 16.7 % 22.4 % 30.1 % 31.4 % 12.5 % P 6.1 % 8.4 % 8.8 % 10.8 % 14.7 % 17.3 % 18.5 % 25.1 % 37.9 % 45.7 % 18.4 % FIN 10.2 % 12.9 % 12.1 % 10.6 % 13.2 % 19.5 % 26.5 % 35.0 % 52.9 % 52.6 % 22.9 % UK 12.4 % 8.7 % 11.1 % 13.8 % 15.2 % 15.5 % 20.8 % 24.9 % 35.7 % 32.6 % 18.8 % EU-14 6.6 % 6.1 % 7.2 % 8.3 % 10.5 % 12.1 % 15.5 % 21.1 % 28.9 % 31.7 % 14.5 %

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Self-reported disability

Age-specific percentages of persons reporting disability, all levels combined, in 14 EU countries, age group 16-64, 1996 60 % FIN P UK D DK NL F L A B IRL E EL I EU-14 16 to 19 16 20 to 24 25 to 29 30 to 34 35 to 39 40 to 44 45 to 49 50 to 54 55 to 59 60 to 64

50 %

40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %

0%

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Self-reported disability

Chart 4. Age structure of the populations reporting severe, moderate and no disability
The age structure of the groups reporting severe, moderate and no disability differs. Not surprisingly, given that the probability of reporting a disability increases with age, the population with no disability is younger on average. Almost 60 % of the population reporting no disability is under 40 years old, while this is only 24 % for those reporting a severe disability. More than 40 % of those reporting severe disability and 14 % of those reporting no disability are 55 or older. These age structure differences will impact on comparisons of these groups social participation. In this publication, attention will be given to the possible age effect on differences between people with and without a disability. Age structure of the population groups reporting severe, moderate and no disability, EU-14, 1996
Severe disability 16 to 19 20 to 24 25 to 29 30 to 34 35 to 39 40 to 44 45 to 49 50 to 54 55 to 59 60 to 64 Total 17 2.7 % 3.3 % 4.3 % 6.5 % 7.4 % 8.1 % 11.5 % 14.2 % 21.9 % 20.0 % 100 % Moderate disability 4.0 % 5.3 % 7.0 % 7.7 % 9.0 % 9.4 % 11.5 % 12.7 % 16.5 % 17.1 % 100 % No disability 8.3 % 11.6 % 12.9 % 13.2 % 11.7 % 10.6 % 10.1 % 8.0 % 7.2 % 6.3 % 100 % Total

7.6 % 10.6 % 12.0 % 12.4 % 11.3 % 10.4 % 10.3 % 8.7 % 8.8 % 7.9 % 100 %

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Self-reported disability

Age structure of the populations reporting severe, moderate and no disability, EU-14, 1996

60 to 64 55 to 59 50 to 54 45 to 49 Total 40 to 44 35 to 39 30 to 34 25 to 29 20 to 24 16 to 19 0% 18 2% 4% 6% 8% 10 % 12 % 14 % 16 % 18 % 20 % 22% No Moderate Severe