OBJECTIVES: Each year, more then 300,000 people suffer from pulmonary embolism (PE) in Europe. This study assesses the economic burden of PE, in terms of mortality, healthcare resource utilization, health-related quality of life (HrQoL), and productivity loss, as a function of patient characteristics, across Europe. METHODS: PREFER in VTE is a prospective, observational, multicenter study conducted in seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and UK). Venous thromboembolism (VTE) patients, were recruited following an index event and followed up at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. The PE subgroup, consisting of 1,399 patients with an average age of 62 years and 53% of male patients, was analyzed. The association between patient characteristics and mortality, hospitalization and HrQoL were examined using logit, two-part and Tobit regression. RESULTS: At 12 months follow-up, 7.3% of patients died a 10-fold increase in comparison to an average age/gender–matched population. Age, body mass index (BMI), history of cancer / major surgery or trauma, smoking and vascular disease, were predictors for mortality. Among patients who were followed up for 12 months, i.e. alive and not lost to follow up, 20.4% had been hospitalized for on average 8.33 days. A history of cancer, having COPD and DVT predict higher probabilities of hospitalization. The average EQ-5D-5L score following the index event was 0.712 at baseline and increased to 0.834 after 12 months. The EQ-VAS was 59.7 at baseline, which is lower than for age / gender matched populations. Predictive factors include gender, BMI, education, previous stroke, and a history of cancer. At 12 months, 3.4% of patients had not returned to work since the baseline