Life expectancy in the North East is three years lower than in London, according to new analysis by the King's Fund. The research shows that the North-South divide on this measure has widened over the past decade.
Life expectancy highest on record but gains unequal
The study found that life expectancy reached its highest ever recorded level in 2025, but improvements have not been equal across the country. The health charity said the disparity reflects greater deprivation in northern regions.
The King's Fund concluded that the government's aim to increase healthy life expectancy for everyone in England and halve the gap between the richest and poorest regions looks "unrealistic". Achieving these aims would require improvements in population health on a scale not seen in recent decades.
North East worst affected by early deaths
Life expectancy has consistently been the lowest nationally for almost half of England's population living in the North, including the North East, with little or no improvement in the decade before the 2023-2025 period. The trend shows that people in the most deprived areas have shorter lives and spend longer in poor health.
Closer examination reveals that the North East fares particularly badly in areas such as early death from heart disease and cancer, as well as suicide and deaths linked to alcohol and drug misuse. The overall UK life expectancy is the lowest of all comparable high-income countries, apart from Germany and the USA.
King's Fund calls for bold action
Veena Raleigh, senior fellow at the King's Fund, said: "That people in our Northern and deprived communities have seen little or no improvement in longevity over a decade, in contrast to the health gains in their Southern and more well-off counterparts, is a mark of shame for an affluent country."
She added: "Addressing this inequity in the nation’s health is not just a matter of social justice, it would reduce pressures on the NHS and the high economic costs of ill-health. Improving population health and reducing entrenched health inequalities have never been more urgent and yet also more challenging, given the economic constraints facing the country."
Raleigh said it would require "concerted, bold, cross-governmental action" to reduce largely preventable illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes associated with poor diet, drinking and smoking, and tackle the wider determinants driving persistent poor health, especially among northern and deprived communities. She noted that one of the three 'radical shifts' in the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan is from sickness to prevention, but said: "One year on, and the modest moves on this front fall well short of the bold action needed to improve public health, reduce inequalities and increase people’s lives and the years they spend in good health."
Government response
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "Someone’s postcode should never dictate how long they live, and this Government is determined to tackle the stark inequalities that still exist across Britain."
The spokesman added that the government is already taking action, from allocating GP funding more fairly to delivering pioneering Neighbourhood Health Centres in the areas that need them most, and will go further in devolving power to local communities.
