Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the United Kingdom
Life expectancy at birth in the UK is 79.2 years for men and 83.0 for women; healthy life expectancy, the years lived in good general health, is 60.7 and 60.9 years (ONS, 2022–2024). Of the four nations, life expectancy is highest in England and lowest in Scotland, for men and for women, by more than the margins of error.
Life expectancy in the UK: 79.2 years for men, 83.0 for women
ONS period life expectancy at birth for 2022–2024: the average number of years a baby born in the UK would live if the death rates of those three years applied throughout life. It describes the population, not any one person. Definition and source.
The four nations
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Men, Years | Men, 95% CI | Men, Compared with the UK | Women, Years | Women, 95% CI | Women, Compared with the UK |
| United Kingdom | 79.2 | 79.1–79.2 | Reference | 83.0 | 83.0–83.1 | Reference |
| England | 79.5 | 79.4–79.5 | Above | 83.3 | 83.3–83.4 | Above |
| Scotland | 77.2 | 77.1–77.2 | Below | 81.1 | 81.0–81.1 | Below |
| Wales | 78.3 | 78.1–78.4 | Below | 82.2 | 82.1–82.3 | Below |
| Northern Ireland | 78.8 | 78.6–79.0 | Below | 82.6 | 82.5–82.8 | Below |
Each nation is compared with the UK: “above” or “below” only when the two 95% confidence intervals do not overlap, “similar” when they do.
Healthy life expectancy in the UK: 60.7 years for men, 60.9 for women
ONS healthy life expectancy at birth for 2022–2024: of the years in life expectancy, the number a baby born in the UK would live in good general health, based on how people rate their own health in a survey. Because it rests on a survey sample, its intervals are wider than those for life expectancy. Definition and source.
The four nations
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Men, Years | Men, 95% CI | Men, Compared with the UK | Women, Years | Women, 95% CI | Women, Compared with the UK |
| United Kingdom | 60.7 | 60.5–60.9 | Reference | 60.9 | 60.7–61.2 | Reference |
| England | 60.9 | 60.7–61.2 | Similar | 61.3 | 61.0–61.6 | Similar |
| Scotland | 59.1 | 58.4–59.8 | Below | 59.4 | 58.6–60.2 | Below |
| Wales | 59.2 | 58.4–59.9 | Below | 58.5 | 57.6–59.4 | Below |
| Northern Ireland | 60.8 | 60.0–61.7 | Similar | 60.7 | 59.8–61.6 | Similar |
Each nation is compared with the UK: “above” or “below” only when the two 95% confidence intervals do not overlap, “similar” when they do.
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 of councils.
Years in poorer health in the four nations
| Area | Men | Women | Average of men and women |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 18.5 | 22.1 | 20.3 |
| England | 18.6 | 22.0 | 20.3 |
| Scotland | 18.1 | 21.7 | 19.9 |
| Wales | 19.1 | 23.7 | 21.4 |
| Northern Ireland | 18.0 | 21.9 | 19.9 |
Life expectancy minus healthy life expectancy, from the ONS figures. There is no interval for it, so the nations are not compared.
How the figures have changed
ONS figures for the UK for each three-year period, with the 95% confidence interval shaded. Because these estimates are precise, 37 of the 64 period-to-period changes shown here are larger than the confidence intervals. Consecutive periods still share two of their three years, so compare periods several years apart, and check whether their intervals overlap. Reading trends.
- Men
- Women
- 95% confidence interval
Men: rose from 75.9 in 2001–2003 to 79.2 in 2022–2024, a change larger than the margins of error. Women: rose from 80.5 in 2001–2003 to 83.0 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 | 79.2 | 79.1–79.2 | 83.0 | 83.0–83.1 |
| 2021–2023 | 78.8 | 78.8–78.9 | 82.8 | 82.8–82.8 |
| 2020–2022 | 78.6 | 78.6–78.6 | 82.6 | 82.5–82.6 |
| 2019–2021 | 78.7 | 78.7–78.8 | 82.7 | 82.6–82.7 |
| 2018–2020 | 79.0 | 79.0–79.0 | 82.8 | 82.8–82.8 |
| 2017–2019 | 79.4 | 79.3–79.4 | 83.0 | 83.0–83.1 |
| 2016–2018 | 79.2 | 79.2–79.3 | 82.9 | 82.9–82.9 |
| 2015–2017 | 79.2 | 79.2–79.2 | 82.8 | 82.8–82.9 |
| 2014–2016 | 79.2 | 79.2–79.2 | 82.9 | 82.8–82.9 |
| 2013–2015 | 79.1 | 79.1–79.2 | 82.8 | 82.8–82.9 |
| 2012–2014 | 79.1 | 79.1–79.2 | 82.8 | 82.8–82.9 |
| 2011–2013 | 79.0 | 78.9–79.0 | 82.8 | 82.7–82.8 |
| 2010–2012 | 78.8 | 78.7–78.8 | 82.6 | 82.6–82.6 |
| 2009–2011 | 78.5 | 78.4–78.5 | 82.5 | 82.4–82.5 |
| 2008–2010 | 78.1 | 78.0–78.1 | 82.1 | 82.1–82.1 |
| 2007–2009 | 77.7 | 77.7–77.8 | 81.8 | 81.8–81.9 |
| 2006–2008 | 77.4 | 77.4–77.5 | 81.6 | 81.6–81.6 |
| 2005–2007 | 77.2 | 77.2–77.2 | 81.5 | 81.4–81.5 |
| 2004–2006 | 76.9 | 76.9–77.0 | 81.3 | 81.2–81.3 |
| 2003–2005 | 76.5 | 76.5–76.6 | 80.9 | 80.9–80.9 |
| 2002–2004 | 76.2 | 76.2–76.2 | 80.7 | 80.7–80.7 |
| 2001–2003 | 75.9 | 75.9–75.9 | 80.5 | 80.5–80.5 |
- Men
- Women
- 95% confidence interval
Men: fell from 62.7 in 2011–2013 to 60.7 in 2022–2024, a change larger than the margins of error. Women: fell from 63.7 in 2011–2013 to 60.9 in 2022–2024, a change larger than the margins of error.
Healthy life expectancy at birth: figures for each period
| Period | Men | 95% CI | Women | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–2024 | 60.7 | 60.5–60.9 | 60.9 | 60.7–61.2 |
| 2021–2023 | 61.3 | 61.1–61.5 | 61.6 | 61.3–61.8 |
| 2020–2022 | 62.0 | 61.8–62.2 | 62.4 | 62.2–62.7 |
| 2019–2021 | 62.4 | 62.3–62.6 | 63.4 | 63.2–63.6 |
| 2018–2020 | 62.8 | 62.6–63.0 | 63.7 | 63.5–63.9 |
| 2017–2019 | 62.9 | 62.7–63.1 | 63.5 | 63.3–63.6 |
| 2016–2018 | 63.0 | 62.9–63.2 | 63.8 | 63.6–64.0 |
| 2015–2017 | 63.1 | 62.9–63.2 | 63.8 | 63.6–63.9 |
| 2014–2016 | 63.0 | 62.8–63.2 | 63.8 | 63.7–64.0 |
| 2013–2015 | 63.0 | 62.8–63.1 | 63.9 | 63.8–64.1 |
| 2012–2014 | 62.9 | 62.7–63.0 | 63.7 | 63.6–63.9 |
| 2011–2013 | 62.7 | 62.6–62.9 | 63.7 | 63.6–63.9 |
Years of life, and of good health, from age 65
At 2022–2024 rates, men reaching 65 in the UK could expect, on average, a further 18.8 years of life, 10.0 of them in good health; for women the figures are 21.2 and 11.0 years. These are averages for everyone of that age, at the death rates and health of 2022–2024.
ONS, 2022–2024. Lifemap’s dataset holds no confidence intervals for the figures at 65, so they are shown without comparison. Definitions and sources.
Life expectancy is not the average age at death
The figures here, as ONS publishes them for areas of the UK, are period measures. Life expectancy at birth takes the death rates at each age in 2022–2024 and works out how long a group of babies would live, on average, if they met those same rates at every age throughout their lives. It is a summary of that period’s death rates, not a record of how old people were when they died.
The average age of the people who died in a year is a different number. It depends on how many people there are at each age, not only on death rates: two areas with identical death rates at every age can have very different average ages at death if one has more older residents. That is why life expectancy, not the average age at death, is used to compare places and years.
Life expectancy at birth also counts deaths at every age from birth onwards. At 2022–2024 death rates, men who had reached 65 in the UK could expect, on average, a further 18.8 years, to an age of about 83.8, and women a further 21.2 years, to about 86.2. Both are higher than the 79.2 and 83.0 years expected at birth, because the figure at birth also takes in everyone who dies before 65.
Nor is a period figure a forecast. Death rates change over time, so it is not an estimate of how long babies born in 2022–2024 will actually live; ONS’s separate cohort figures build in projected changes in death rates for that. Both describe populations on average, not any one person.
Life expectancy in the glossary · ONS: period and cohort life expectancy explained · For UK averages by age and sex, ONS has an official life expectancy calculator.
Life expectancy in the regions of England
ONS publishes life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for England’s nine regions, from the same releases as the national figures. Each region is compared with England: “above” or “below” only when the two 95% confidence intervals do not overlap. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are shown above as nations.
Life expectancy at birth
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Men, Years | Men, 95% CI | Men, Compared with England | Women, Years | Women, 95% CI | Women, Compared with England |
| England | 79.5 | 79.4–79.5 | Reference | 83.3 | 83.3–83.4 | Reference |
| North East | 77.7 | 77.5–77.8 | Below | 81.6 | 81.5–81.8 | Below |
| North West | 77.9 | 77.9–78.0 | Below | 81.9 | 81.8–82.0 | Below |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 78.3 | 78.2–78.4 | Below | 82.3 | 82.2–82.4 | Below |
| East Midlands | 79.0 | 78.9–79.1 | Below | 82.8 | 82.8–82.9 | Below |
| West Midlands | 78.7 | 78.6–78.8 | Below | 82.8 | 82.7–82.8 | Below |
| East of England | 80.3 | 80.2–80.4 | Above | 84.0 | 83.9–84.0 | Above |
| London | 80.5 | 80.4–80.5 | Above | 84.7 | 84.6–84.8 | Above |
| South East | 80.7 | 80.6–80.7 | Above | 84.4 | 84.3–84.4 | Above |
| South West | 80.3 | 80.2–80.4 | Above | 84.1 | 84.0–84.2 | Above |
Healthy life expectancy at birth
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Men, Years | Men, 95% CI | Men, Compared with England | Women, Years | Women, 95% CI | Women, Compared with England |
| England | 60.9 | 60.7–61.2 | Reference | 61.3 | 61.0–61.6 | Reference |
| North East | 57.0 | 56.1–57.9 | Below | 56.9 | 55.9–57.9 | Below |
| North West | 58.3 | 57.5–59.0 | Below | 59.2 | 58.4–60.0 | Below |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 58.2 | 57.4–59.1 | Below | 58.6 | 57.7–59.5 | Below |
| East Midlands | 59.4 | 58.5–60.4 | Below | 59.3 | 58.3–60.4 | Below |
| West Midlands | 60.2 | 59.4–61.0 | Similar | 59.6 | 58.7–60.5 | Below |
| East of England | 62.3 | 61.5–63.2 | Above | 62.0 | 61.0–63.0 | Similar |
| London | 62.9 | 62.1–63.7 | Above | 62.9 | 62.0–63.9 | Above |
| South East | 63.0 | 62.4–63.6 | Above | 64.3 | 63.5–65.0 | Above |
| South West | 62.4 | 61.7–63.2 | Above | 62.4 | 61.6–63.3 | Similar |
Each region’s name links to its page, with its trend, its figures at 65 and its councils.
Lowest and highest councils in each nation
The councils with the lowest and highest published estimates, for men and women, in 2022–2024. Life expectancy is compared across districts and single-tier councils (in England, not the counties, whose figures include their districts’); healthy life expectancy across the upper-tier and single-tier councils ONS publishes it for. Councils near either end are often within each other’s confidence intervals.
| Measure | Lowest | Highest | Councils |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | |||
| Life expectancy, men | 73.7 Blackpool | 83.7 Hart | 294 |
| Life expectancy, women | 79.1 Blackpool | 87.1 Kensington and Chelsea | 294 |
| Healthy life expectancy, men | 50.9 Blackpool | 69.3 Richmond upon Thames | 151 |
| Healthy life expectancy, women | 51.2 Hartlepool | 70.3 Richmond upon Thames | 151 |
| Scotland | |||
| Life expectancy, men | 74.3 Glasgow City | 81.5 East Renfrewshire | 32 |
| Life expectancy, women | 78.7 Glasgow City | 84.9 East Renfrewshire | 32 |
| Healthy life expectancy, men | 52.9 North Lanarkshire | 72.9 Orkney Islands | 32 |
| Healthy life expectancy, women | 52.3 North Lanarkshire | 74.1 Orkney Islands | 32 |
| Wales | |||
| Life expectancy, men | 75.0 Merthyr Tydfil | 80.3 | 22 |
| Life expectancy, women | 79.2 Blaenau Gwent | 84.6 Monmouthshire | 22 |
| Healthy life expectancy, men | 51.7 Merthyr Tydfil | 64.2 Powys | 22 |
| Healthy life expectancy, women | 50.1 Merthyr Tydfil | 63.8 Powys | 22 |
| Northern Ireland | |||
| Life expectancy, men | 76.5 Belfast | 80.5 Lisburn and Castlereagh | 11 |
| Life expectancy, women | 80.5 Belfast | 83.8 | 11 |
| Healthy life expectancy, men | 54.9 Derry City and Strabane | 65.5 Lisburn and Castlereagh | 11 |
| Healthy life expectancy, women | 54.2 Derry City and Strabane | 65.9 Mid Ulster | 11 |
Life expectancy rankings · Healthy life expectancy rankings · All 380 councils.
Nations, regions and councils
Nations
- Englandmen 79.5 · women 83.3
- Scotlandmen 77.2 · women 81.1
- Walesmen 78.3 · women 82.2
- Northern Irelandmen 78.8 · women 82.6
Regions of England
- North Eastmen 77.7 · women 81.6
- North Westmen 77.9 · women 81.9
- Yorkshire and The Humbermen 78.3 · women 82.3
- East Midlandsmen 79.0 · women 82.8
- West Midlandsmen 78.7 · women 82.8
- East of Englandmen 80.3 · women 84.0
- Londonmen 80.5 · women 84.7
- South Eastmen 80.7 · women 84.4
- South Westmen 80.3 · women 84.1
Life expectancy at birth, years, 2022–2024. Look up a postcode · Rankings · Download the data · Methodology.