Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in Medway
Life expectancy at birth in Medway is 78.7 years for men and 82.6 for women; healthy life expectancy, the years lived in good general health, is 59.0 and 60.2 years. Healthy life expectancy is similar to England’s for both men and women, allowing for the margins of error in the estimates.
- Healthy life expectancy 59.6
- Years in poorer health 21.1
- Life expectancy 80.7
- UK: 60.8 healthy, 81.1 in total
Life expectancy: below England’s for both men and women
ONS period life expectancy at birth for 2022–2024: the average number of years a baby born in Medway would live if the death rates of those three years applied throughout life. It describes the population, not any one person. Definition and source.
- Below England (79.5)
- Similar to the UK (79.2)
- Below England (83.3)
- Similar to the UK (83.0)
- England 81.4
- United Kingdom 81.1
Ranks are among the 151 English upper-tier councils, highest first, and describe the published estimates: councils close together in a ranking are often within each other’s confidence intervals. “Above” or “below” means the two 95% confidence intervals do not overlap; “similar to” means they do. England: men 79.5 (95% CI 79.4–79.5), women 83.3 (95% CI 83.3–83.4); United Kingdom: men 79.2 (95% CI 79.1–79.2), women 83.0 (95% CI 83.0–83.1). How Lifemap compares figures.
Healthy life expectancy: similar to England’s for both men and women
ONS healthy life expectancy at birth for 2022–2024: of the years in life expectancy, the number a baby born in Medway would live in good general health, based on how people in the area rate their own health. Because it rests on a survey sample, its intervals are wider than those for life expectancy. Definition and source.
- Similar to England (60.9)
- Similar to the UK (60.7)
- Similar to England (61.3)
- Similar to the UK (60.9)
- England 61.1
- United Kingdom 60.8
Ranks and comparisons work as for life expectancy above. England: men 60.9 (95% CI 60.7–61.2), women 61.3 (95% CI 61.0–61.6); United Kingdom: men 60.7 (95% CI 60.5–60.9), women 60.9 (95% CI 60.7–61.2). How Lifemap compares figures.
Years in poorer health
Life expectancy minus healthy life expectancy: Lifemap’s arithmetic on the ONS figures, which ONS does not publish itself. Definition · Ranking.
- England 18.6
- United Kingdom 18.5
- England 22.0
- United Kingdom 22.1
- England 20.3
- United Kingdom 20.3
How the figures have changed
ONS figures for each three-year period, with the 95% confidence interval shaded. Consecutive periods share two of their three years, so the change from one period to the next is small: 64 of the 64 period-to-period changes shown here are within the confidence intervals. Compare periods several years apart, and check whether their intervals overlap. Reading trends.
- Men
- Women
- 95% confidence interval
Men: rose from 75.4 in 2001–2003 to 78.7 in 2022–2024, a change larger than the margins of error. Women: rose from 80.0 in 2001–2003 to 82.6 in 2022–2024, a change larger than the margins of error.
Life expectancy at birth: figures for each period
| Period | Men | 95% CI | Women | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–2024 | 78.7 | 78.3–79.1 | 82.6 | 82.2–83.0 |
| 2021–2023 | 78.0 | 77.6–78.4 | 82.1 | 81.7–82.5 |
| 2020–2022 | 77.6 | 77.2–78.0 | 81.9 | 81.5–82.3 |
| 2019–2021 | 77.8 | 77.4–78.2 | 82.1 | 81.7–82.5 |
| 2018–2020 | 78.4 | 78.0–78.8 | 82.5 | 82.2–82.9 |
| 2017–2019 | 79.1 | 78.7–79.5 | 82.7 | 82.3–83.1 |
| 2016–2018 | 79.0 | 78.6–79.4 | 82.8 | 82.4–83.1 |
| 2015–2017 | 78.8 | 78.4–79.2 | 82.6 | 82.2–82.9 |
| 2014–2016 | 78.5 | 78.0–78.9 | 82.2 | 81.8–82.6 |
| 2013–2015 | 78.4 | 78.0–78.9 | 82.0 | 81.6–82.4 |
| 2012–2014 | 78.7 | 78.2–79.1 | 82.2 | 81.8–82.6 |
| 2011–2013 | 78.7 | 78.3–79.1 | 82.4 | 82.0–82.8 |
| 2010–2012 | 78.5 | 78.1–78.9 | 82.1 | 81.7–82.5 |
| 2009–2011 | 78.2 | 77.7–78.6 | 81.9 | 81.5–82.4 |
| 2008–2010 | 77.7 | 77.3–78.1 | 81.6 | 81.2–82.1 |
| 2007–2009 | 77.3 | 76.9–77.8 | 81.5 | 81.1–81.9 |
| 2006–2008 | 76.7 | 76.3–77.2 | 81.2 | 80.8–81.6 |
| 2005–2007 | 76.5 | 76.1–77.0 | 81.0 | 80.6–81.4 |
| 2004–2006 | 76.3 | 75.9–76.8 | 80.8 | 80.4–81.2 |
| 2003–2005 | 76.3 | 75.9–76.8 | 80.4 | 80.0–80.8 |
| 2002–2004 | 75.8 | 75.4–76.3 | 80.2 | 79.7–80.6 |
| 2001–2003 | 75.4 | 75.0–75.9 | 80.0 | 79.6–80.4 |
- Men
- Women
- 95% confidence interval
Men: 61.1 in 2011–2013 and 59.0 in 2022–2024; the intervals overlap, so this is not clear evidence of a change. Women: 62.1 in 2011–2013 and 60.2 in 2022–2024; the intervals overlap, so this is not clear evidence of a change.
Healthy life expectancy at birth: figures for each period
| Period | Men | 95% CI | Women | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–2024 | 59.0 | 55.5–62.5 | 60.2 | 55.9–64.5 |
| 2021–2023 | 58.4 | 54.7–62.1 | 58.9 | 54.8–63.1 |
| 2020–2022 | 59.8 | 56.3–63.2 | 60.4 | 56.3–64.5 |
| 2019–2021 | 60.0 | 56.8–63.2 | 61.7 | 58.1–65.3 |
| 2018–2020 | 62.5 | 59.8–65.3 | 63.7 | 60.4–66.9 |
| 2017–2019 | 62.8 | 60.0–65.5 | 63.7 | 60.7–66.7 |
| 2016–2018 | 62.1 | 59.5–64.7 | 63.5 | 60.7–66.3 |
| 2015–2017 | 61.9 | 59.5–64.2 | 62.4 | 59.7–65.1 |
| 2014–2016 | 61.0 | 58.8–63.2 | 61.6 | 58.8–64.3 |
| 2013–2015 | 59.9 | 57.7–62.2 | 61.1 | 58.5–63.7 |
| 2012–2014 | 60.9 | 58.7–63.0 | 61.8 | 59.2–64.4 |
| 2011–2013 | 61.1 | 58.8–63.3 | 62.1 | 59.8–64.5 |
Years of life, and of good health, from age 65
The state pension age is rising from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028. At 2022–2024 rates, men reaching 65 in Medway could expect, on average, a further 18.2 years of life, 9.5 of them in good health; for women the figures are 20.7 and 11.1 years. These are averages for everyone of that age in the area, at the death rates and health of 2022–2024.
- England 18.9
- England 21.4
- England 10.1
- England 11.1
ONS, 2022–2024. Lifemap’s dataset holds no confidence intervals for the figures at 65, so they are shown without comparison. Definitions and sources.
Inequality within Medway
The Slope Index of Inequality is the modelled gap in life expectancy at birth between the most and least deprived people within a council, estimated across the deprivation levels of all its neighbourhoods. Men in the most deprived parts of Medway are estimated to live 10.5 fewer years, on average, than men in the least deprived parts; women in the most deprived parts of Medway are estimated to live 8.4 fewer years, on average, than women in the least deprived parts.
- England 10.4
- England 8.0
- England 21.8
Slope Index of Inequality: OHID Fingertips indicator 92901 (inequality in life expectancy at birth), 2022–24. Deprivation score: English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), via OHID Fingertips indicator 94240. The deprivation rank is among the 151 English upper-tier councils, most deprived first. England only: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland measure deprivation with their own indices. Definitions: inequality in life expectancy · deprivation score.
Smoking, weight, activity, diet and drinking
Adult figures from each nation’s own health surveys. The definitions match across England, Scotland and Wales, but the surveys and periods differ, and Public Health Wales’s figures are age-standardised, so compare across borders with care. Survey periods and definitions.
- England 10.9%
- England 64.6%
- England 68.0%
- England 31.4%
- England 22.8%
Definitions: smoking · overweight or obese · physically active · five a day · drinking over 14 units. Rankings among English upper-tier councils: smoking · overweight or obese · physically active · five a day · drinking over 14 units.
Cite this page
Lifemap (2026). Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in Medway, 2022–2024. Dataset version 26 September 2026. https://lifemap.org.uk/area/medway/ Data: Office for National Statistics (life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2022–2024); Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Fingertips (lifestyle, inequality and deprivation). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources: Office for National Statistics, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.