People in the UK are spending fewer years in good health than a decade ago, according to a new analysis by the Health Foundation thinktank. The study found that healthy life expectancy for men fell from 62.9 years in 2012-14 to 60.7 years in 2022-24, and for women from 63.7 to 60.9 years over the same period. This means the proportion of life spent in good health dropped from 79% to 77% for men and from 77% to 73% for women.
The decline places the UK in stark contrast to most other wealthy nations, where healthy life expectancy has risen by an average of 0.4 years. The UK now ranks 20th out of 21 comparable countries, ahead of only the US. The thinktank described the situation as 'going backwards', with more than 90% of UK areas seeing people develop illness before the state pension age of 66.
Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive of the Health Foundation, said: 'These findings reveal a stark truth – the UK’s health is going backwards. The lights on the dashboard are flashing red. We are the most obese country in western Europe, mental ill health has surged to unprecedented levels and more people than ever before are living with chronic health conditions.' The analysis attributes the loss of two years of illness-free life to obesity, alcohol-related deaths, drug misuse, and suicide, as well as widening health inequalities between rich and poor.
The thinktank urged the government to introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol in England, as Scotland has done, and to force food companies to make products healthier. Dr Dixon added: 'Successive governments, including the current one, have known this but failed to take the action needed. Turning the tide requires a new approach that goes far beyond patching up the NHS to tackling the root causes of poor health.'
The Department of Health and Social Care responded, calling the decline a 'disgrace' and highlighting upcoming measures such as the tobacco and vapes bill and a ban on junk food advertising before 9pm on television. The findings help explain record numbers of people too sick to work (2.8 million) and rising deaths among 25- to 49-year-olds.
