More than half a million Europeans die prematurely each year - Report

Chronic disease, obesity, smoking, drugs and alcohol are cutting short the productive life of millions of Europeans, according to a review of 36 countries published by the European Commission and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The "Health at a Glance" study finds that the premature deaths of 550,000 working-age people each year results in the potential economic loss of around 115 billion euros - or about 0.8 percent of the EU's annual gross domestic product (GDP).

"We cannot continue to lose half a million people of working age every year prematurely," said Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis in a speech in Brussels Wednesday.

The report noted that so called big countries such as Germany, Sweden and France spend around twice as much relative to GDP than countries in the eastern regions of the EU such as Latvia and Bulgaria.