text: ***4.2.1 Statistical picture of mortality and morbidity***
  
  The development of the**overall health status and its two major indicators — mortality and**
  **morbidity**— is of high relevance for OSH. First of all, these overall ‘Outcome indicators’ cover the whole 
  population and can be an indicator for the health impact of working conditions. Secondly, the practical 
  OSH management has to react to trends in health: this can be the general ageing of the workforce, 
  changing morbidity patterns with impact on the overall ability to work and on the practical work 
  organisation, or reactions to trends like physical inactivity, overweight or the rapid growth of mental 
  diseases. 
  
  In public health, the probably most important and most used statistical indicator is**‘Life expectancy’**. 
  Life expectancy**at EU level**has increased steadily for many decades and reached 80.1 years in 2021.186 
  It is 82.8 years for women in 2021 and was 81.5 years in 2006; for men it increased from 75.1 years in 
  2005 to 77.2 years in 2021.187 It was highest in 2019 at 81.3 and fell by 1.2 years in 2021, mainly due 
  to the COVID-19 pandemic.188 