Area · E06000047
County Durham
Population studies suggest people in County Durham, on average, can expect around 79.5 years of life, of which around 56.7 may be in good general health.
Last data refresh · 2026-04-26
Source · ONS & OHID
Open Government Licence v3.0
§ 01 · Life expectancy
How long people in County Durham live
Period life expectancy at birth, taken from the ONS local-area life-expectancy dataset (2022–2024). These are population averages, not personal predictions.
Life expectancy · average
79.5yrs
Average across male and female.
Life expectancy · male
77.8yrs
Life expectancy · female
81.3yrs
§ 02 · Healthy life expectancy
How many of those years may be in good health
Healthy life expectancy at birth estimates the years a person can expect to live in good general health. The gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy is the share of life spent in poorer health.
Healthy life expectancy · average
56.7yrs
Years lived in good general health.
Healthy life expectancy · male
56.5yrs
Healthy life expectancy · female
56.8yrs
Years not in good health
22.8yrs
The healthy-life gap for this area.
vs UK average (63.3 yrs healthy)
County Durham is 6.6 years below the UK average for healthy life expectancy.
FIG. 02 · COUNTY DURHAM
County Durham, square by square
57 healthy years · 23 years with poorer health · out of 80 total.
Healthy (57) Poorer health (23) Beyond LE (20)
§ 03 · Lifestyle indicators
Behavioural risk factors at population level
Adult population shares for the five lifestyle indicators Lifemap tracks. Definitions and survey periods vary by country — see Sources for the full provenance and the comparability caveats.
Smoking (adults)
14.6%
Adult smoking prevalence.
Obesity / overweight (adults)
70.1%
Adult population share. Definition varies between countries — see Sources.
Higher-risk drinking
25.3%
Adults drinking above the chief medical officer's weekly guideline.
Physically active (adults)
64.3%
Adults meeting the CMO 150 min / week guideline.
Five-a-day fruit & veg
27.2%
Adults eating five or more portions a day.
§ 04 · Look up another area
Compare County Durham with another postcode
Lifemap is built around postcode lookup. Try another UK postcode on the homepage, or browse the full directory of UK areas.