LIFESTYLES : Just the Facts About Life in Europe : Booklet Compares EU Nations’ Health Care, Gas Prices, Divorce Rates and More

Got a minor ailment? The best place for treatment in Europe could be Greece.

Greece?

While the fact may be hard to believe, it’s true--officially listed in a recently published document that compares life in the European Union’s 12 member states.

There, in black and white, it shows that, at least in terms of quantity, Greece leads the way, with more doctors per capita than any of the richer northern countries. It also has the second-highest number of dentists in the Union, topped only by Denmark, and stands fifth in the number of pharmacists.

But if things get serious, head north. Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany have the highest number of hospital beds per capita.

On the verge of a nervous breakdown? Ireland offers more than a tranquil setting. It has the most psychiatric beds per thousand inhabitants of any country in the Union.

Above all, avoid Italy, which sits at or near the bottom in nearly every medical category listed.

These and thousands of other facts are tucked into a small 28-page booklet, published by the EU’s statistical office in Luxembourg, designed and distributed to give voters in recent European Parliament elections a chance to see where their own country stood in comparison with neighboring nations.

In fact, it has done much more. The book’s simple design and broad distribution in all the Union’s nine official languages has given it an impact far beyond the normally dry fare dished up by the statistical office, known as Eurostat.

“We’ve gotten a lot of publicity,” said John Wright, the office’s press adviser. “It has confirmed people’s national prejudices, but there’s also some surprises. Either way, the press loves to jump on these kinds of comparisons.”

Among the surprises, beyond Greece’s medical strength:

* In Denmark, a nation noted for its progress toward sexual equality, women have a shorter life expectancy than in any other member country.

* The highest percentage of women in higher education is in Portugal--153 women for every 100 men. The lowest is in Germany--71 women for every 100 men.

* Fertility and birthrates are currently running far higher in the northern countries, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, than in the southern Roman Catholic nations, such as Spain, Italy and Portugal.

In the not-so-surprising category, Britain has the wettest climate; Spain and Greece have the driest. Belgium and Italy have the region’s oldest populations, Ireland the youngest. The Dutch produce the most trash and the Irish the most babies.

The Eurostat survey, “Facts Through Figures,” also carries some interesting information for those just passing through.

If you’re filling the gas tank, for example, do it either in Luxembourg ($2.50 a gallon) or Britain ($2.80), but avoid Italy ($3.83) and the Netherlands ($3.74).

Taken collectively, the Eurostat figures sketch a region that is still divided by vastly different living standards and lifestyles, despite a gradual political and economic convergence over the past decade.

The purchasing power of a Greek or Portuguese white-collar worker remains less than half that of their Dutch, German or British counterparts, their social benefits are far fewer, and their earnings are more likely to be eaten by inflation.

Unemployment in Spain is also nearly 10 times that in Luxembourg and nearly quadruple Germany’s rate.

At the same time, the southern Mediterranean countries remain the principal guardians of traditional values, listing fewer divorces, larger families and fewer children born out of wedlock. In Denmark, with its relaxed approach to family structure, just under half of all births (46.4%) in 1992 occurred out of wedlock. In Greece, the figure was closer to 1 in 50.

Still, la dolce vita remains firmly anchored in the south, where Eurostat discovered that the Greeks and Portuguese spend more than twice as much of their disposable income on food, drink and tobacco than do the more reserved Dutch, Germans and Belgians to the north.

The intense interest in the recent survey has spurred Eurostat to present other issues in an easy-to-read form.

“We’re working on one now that looks at education in the Union, showing the number of people learning English in every country,” Wright said. “It’s not going to please the French very much.”

Spotlighting the Differences

Among the glimpses into life in Europe, provided in a new 28-page booklet published by the European Union:

Belgium:

% live births outside marriage: 11.6

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 2.2

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 107

Women per 100 men in college: 93

*

Denmark:

% live births outside marriage: 46.4

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 2.5

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 97

Women per 100 men in college: 111

*

Germany:

% live births outside marriage: 15.4

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 1.7

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 91

Women per 100 men in college: 71

*

Greece:

% live births outside marriage: 2.6

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 0.6

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 92

Women per 100 men in college: 103

*

Spain:

% live births outside marriage: 10.0

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 0.6

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 103

Women per 100 men in college: 105

*

France:

% live births outside marriage: 31.8

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 1.9

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 101

Women per 100 men in college: 114

*

Ireland:

% live births outside marriage: 18.0

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: --

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 99

Women per 100 men in college: 85

*

Italy:

% live births outside marriage: 6.8

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 0.4

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 94

Women per 100 men in college: 100

*

Luxembourg:

% live births outside marriage: 12.7

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 1.8

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 109

Women per 100 men in college: --

*

Netherlands:

% live births outside marriage: 12.5

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 2.0

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 91

Women per 100 men in college: 84

*

Portugal:

% live births outside marriage: 16.1

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 1.3

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 130

Women per 100 men in college: 153

*

Britain:

% live births outside marriage: 30.8

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 3.0

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 108

Women per 100 men in college: 95

*

AVERAGE:

% live births outside marriage: 19.5

Divorces per 1,000 inhabitants: 1.6

Girls per 100 boys at secondary school: 99

Women per 100 men in college: 95

Health Care Highs and Lows

Doctors per thousand:

Greece: 4.3

Italy: 1.1

Hospital beds per thousand:

Luxembourg: 12.6

Spain and Portugal: 4.4

Dentists per thousand:

Denmark: 1.0

Portugal: 0.1

Source: Eurostat, the European Union statistical office