RTL Today - Mental health: Luxembourg has the highest rate of depressive symptoms in the EU: study

A new study shows that Luxembourg has the EU's highest rate of depressive symptoms across the population as a whole - 1.7 times higher than the EU average.

According to a study published in the Journal of Health Monitoring on Wednesday, which draws on data from the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), Luxembourg has the EU's highest overall proportion of prevalence of depressive symptoms.

While the EU average is 6.6% of the population, Luxembourg comes in at 11% - a full five percentage point above the EU as a whole. Neighbouring Germany comes in second place at 9.2%, with Portugal in third (9.1%). As for our other two neighbouring countries, no data was presented for Belgium, while France's prevalence is also above the EU average at 7.2%.

Higher among women

Across the EU, the prevalence of depressive symptoms is higher among women (7.9%) than men (5.2%). This is also true for Luxembourg, where the rate among women is 11.7%, compared to 8.2% among men.

Only Portugal (12.9%) reported a higher rate of depressive symptoms in women, while Luxembourg has the highest rate across the EU for men.