New official statistics have revealed a concerning decline in the number of years people in the United Kingdom can expect to live in good health, with figures reaching their lowest point since records began. The data highlights a stark and growing geographical divide between the nation's most and least affluent areas.
Significant Decline in Healthy Years
According to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics, girls born between 2022 and 2024 are likely to experience just 60.9 years of good general health. This represents a substantial drop from 63.4 years in the 2019-21 period and 63.7 years a decade earlier in 2012-14.
Boys born in the same recent period face a similar trend, with an expected 60.7 years of healthy living. This marks a decline from 62.4 years in 2019-21 and 62.9 years ten years ago. For both genders, these figures are the lowest since healthy life expectancy was first estimated in 2011-13.
Growing Regional Health Inequalities
The ONS has identified a "clear geographical divide" in England between local authorities with the highest and lowest healthy life expectancy estimates. This gap has widened dramatically over the past decade.
Richmond upon Thames in London recorded the highest healthy life expectancy for girls born in 2022-24 at 70.3 years. This is more than 19 years longer than Hartlepool in County Durham, which registered the lowest figure at just 51.2 years.
For males born during the same period, Richmond upon Thames again topped the list with 69.3 years of expected good health. This contrasts sharply with Blackpool in Lancashire, which recorded the lowest figure at only 50.9 years - a difference of more than 18 years.
The disparity between England's highest and lowest local healthy life expectancies has increased significantly over the past ten years. For women, the gap has grown from 14.8 years in 2012-14 to 19.1 years in 2022-24. For men, the increase has been from 14.5 years to 18.4 years.
National and Devolved Nation Comparisons
Healthy life expectancy for the whole of England in 2022-24 stood at 61.3 years for females and 60.9 years for males, representing the highest figures among the four UK nations.
Northern Ireland followed with 60.7 years for females and 60.8 for males, while Scotland recorded 59.4 years and 59.1 years respectively. Wales showed the lowest figures at 58.5 years for females and 59.2 years for males.
Within Wales, Merthyr Tydfil recorded the lowest healthy life expectancy for both males and females at 51.7 years and 50.1 years respectively. The town had the lowest figure for females across the entire United Kingdom. In contrast, Powys registered the highest Welsh figures at 64.2 years for males and 63.8 years for females.
In Scotland, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands showed the highest healthy life expectancy, though the ONS noted these estimates are "very uncertain" due to small population sizes. East Renfrewshire followed with 67.9 years for males and 68.7 years for females, while North Lanarkshire recorded the lowest Scottish figures at 52.9 and 52.3 years respectively.
Northern Ireland's highest estimates were in Lisburn & Castlereagh at 65.5 years for males and 65.8 years for females, with Derry City & Strabane showing the lowest at 54.9 and 54.2 years.
Expert Analysis and Concerns
Greg Ceely, ONS head of population life events, commented: "Today's figures show that, while people in the UK are living longer than at the height of the pandemic, the proportion of their lives spent in good health is still getting smaller. Back in 2011, when the ONS first collected this data, men were expected to remain in good health until around the age of 63, and women 64. Today, they could both expect around 61 years of healthy life."
Dr Jamie O'Halloran, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, emphasized the geographical determinants of health outcomes: "Today's figures show that where you live determines how many years you spend in good health - and that gap isn't closing. Reforming the NHS and bringing care closer to communities can help reduce health inequalities, but most of what shapes our physical and mental health lies outside the health system. Without tackling those root causes, we won't see the gains we need."
Blackpool has maintained the UK's lowest male healthy life expectancy since 2016-18, with figures falling from 55.5 years in 2012-14 to just 50.9 years in the latest estimates. Hartlepool and Sandwell have shown similar declines for both genders over the past decade.
Sarah Wilkinson, evidence manager at the Centre for Ageing Better, highlighted the urgent need for action: "There is a great deal of work to be done to tackle growing inequality in good health at old age. Getting older is a vastly different experience for different people. Where you live, how much money you earn - these are significant factors in shaping our health in later life. Even though some older people are comfortable, many are not - it's a gross simplification to assume that older equates to wealthier. As a leading industrialised nation, the UK must confront declining healthy life expectancy and the stark inequalities behind it, because no modern economy can thrive when large parts of its population are living shorter, less healthy lives."
