Life expectancy for local areas of the UK: between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024

The following points refer to the three-year period from 2022 to 2024.

• Life expectancy at birth increased, for both males and females, in over three-quarters of the United Kingdom's local areas compared with 2019 to 2021; it was lower than in 2017 to 2019 (pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic) for males in around two-thirds of local areas, and for females in half of local areas. 

• The 10 local areas with the highest life expectancy at birth, for both males and females, were all in the south of England; the 10 local areas with the lowest life expectancy were concentrated in the north of England and in Scotland. 

• In England, the lowest life expectancy at birth across local areas was in Blackpool (73.7 years for males and 79.1 years for females); the highest life expectancy was in Hart for males (83.7 years) and in Kensington and Chelsea (87.1 years) for females. 

• In Northern Ireland, the lowest life expectancy at birth across local areas was in Belfast (76.5 years for males and 80.5 years for females); the highest life expectancy was in Lisburn and Castlereagh for males (80.5 years) and in Fermanagh and Omagh for females (83.8 years). 

• In Scotland, the lowest life expectancy at birth across local areas was in Glasgow City (74.3 years for males and 78.7 years for females); the highest life expectancy was in East Renfrewshire (81.5 years for males and 84.9 years for females). 

• In Wales, the lowest life expectancy at birth across local areas was in Merthyr Tydfil for males (75.0 years) and in Blaenau Gwent for females (79.2 years); the highest life expectancy was in Vale of Glamorgan for males (80.3 years) and in Monmouthshire for females (84.6 years).

The commentary refers to life expectancy at birth. Life expectancy at other ages, and the time series, can be found in our accompanying datasets. 

In England, in 2022 to 2024, there continued to be sizeable regional differences in life expectancy. Among males, life expectancy at birth continued to be 3.0 years higher in the South East than in the North East. For females, it was 3.0 years higher in London compared with the North East. In all English regions, both male and female life expectancy were higher in 2022 to 2024, compared with 2019 to 2021 (Table 1).

Figure 1: Life expectancy in 2022 to 2024 was highest in southern regions of England and lowest in Scotland and northern regions of England

Life expectancy at birth by sex in 2022 to 2024 for the UK constituent countries, and English regions

Figure 2 shows a clear geographical divide in life expectancy for local areas (lower-tier local authorities in England, local government districts in Northern Ireland, council areas in Scotland and unitary authorities in Wales). The 10 highest local area male life expectancies were all located in the south of England. The lowest 10 were more spread out:

• 5 in Scotland (Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, Dundee City)

• 4 in the north of England (Blackpool, Kingston upon Hull, Middlesborough and Manchester)

• 1 in Wales (Merthyr Tydfil)

The 10 highest local area female life expectancies were also all located in the south of England. In the lowest 10, there were:

• 7 in Scotland (Glasgow City, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, Dundee City, North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire)

• 2 in Wales (Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil)

• 1 in the north of England (Blackpool)

Scotland's areas are overrepresented in the bottom 10 and areas in the south of England are overrepresented in the top 10.

Looking at the United Kingdom as a whole, Blackpool had the lowest male life expectancy in 2022 to 2024 (73.7 years) for a second consecutive period. Glasgow City continued to have the lowest female life expectancy in 2022 to 2024 (78.7 years), having had the lowest for the previous eight periods, since 2014 to 2016.   

For both males and females, the largest increases in life expectancy between 2019 to 2021 and 2022 to 2024 occurred in Newham (2.7 years and 2.0 years, respectively), an area with a particularly large fall in life expectancy during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The largest falls in life expectancy occurred in Rutland for males (minus 1.4 years), and in Na h-Eileanan Siar for females (minus 1.8 years).

Figure 2: In 2022 to 2024, over three-quarters of areas experienced an increase in life expectancy compared with 2019 to 2021

Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 years by sex across local areas in the United Kingdom, between 2001 to 2003 and 2022 to 2024

Notes:

1. PE (period ending) denotes the last calendar year of the three-year period.

2. Local areas include lower-tier local authorities (LTLAs) in England, local government districts in Northern Ireland, council areas in Scotland, and unitary authorities in Wales.

3. Isles of Scilly and City of London have been excluded because of insufficient population counts.

Trends in life expectancy at birth since the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic period (2017 to 2019)

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, life expectancy at birth fell in most local areas of the UK (96% of areas for males, 92% of areas for females). For around half of these areas, the maximum decrease in life expectancy (compared with 2017 to 2019) was in 2020 to 2022. On average, the maximum decrease was greater among males (minus 0.9 years) than among females (minus 0.6 years). Patterns in local life expectancy following the pandemic will be affected by different fa­ctors, such as when and by how much life expectancy decreased after 2017 to 2019, either because of the coronavirus (COVID-19)­ pandemic or other factors.

By 2022 to 2024, male life expectancy was at or above pre-pandemic levels in just 36% of all local areas; for female life expectancy, this was 50%. Figure 3 shows the national and regional variation in the extent to which life expectancy in local areas in 2022 to 2024 was at pre-pandemic levels or higher. 

Across all countries and regions of England, London had the highest proportion of local areas with life expectancy in 2022 to 2024 at or above pre-pandemic levels (66% of areas for males, 69% for female). Female life expectancy was also at or above pre-pandemic levels in at least half of the areas in the East of England, South West, South East of England and in Northern Ireland.

Figure 3: The proportion of local areas where life expectancy in 2022 to 2024 was at least level with 2017 to 2019 varies widely by region and country

Percentage of areas where life expectancy at birth in 2022 to 2024 was at or above the level of 2017 to 2019, by sex, country, and English region

For both males and females, northern regions of England (North East and North West and Yorkshire and the Humber) had the lowest proportions of local areas where life expectancy in 2022 to 2024 was at pre-pandemic levels or higher; these proportions stood between 13% and 17% for males, and between 27% and 33% for females.

Period life expectancy

The life expectancy estimates reported in this bulletin are period based. Period life expectancy at a given age for an area is the average number of additional years a person would live if he or she experienced the area's age-specific mortality rates for that time period, throughout the rest of their life. More information can be found in our Period and cohort life expectancy explained methodology.

The figure reflects mortality among those living in the area in each period, rather than mortality among those born in each area. It is not therefore the number of years a person in the area in each period will be expected to actually live. This is because the death rates of the area are likely to change in the future and because many of those in the area may live elsewhere for at least part of their lives. The measure reflects the mortality rates prevailing at the time and therefore gives a measure with which to compare different populations both by location and by time.

95% confidence intervals

A confidence interval is a measure of the uncertainty around a specific estimate. As intervals around estimates widen, the level of uncertainty about where the true value lies increases. At a national level, the overall level of error will be small compared with the error associated with a local area or a specific age and sex breakdown. Therefore, the widths of the confidence intervals reported in this release will have sizeable differences.

The estimates reported in this bulletin are period-based life expectancies, estimated using an abridged life table. Our Life expectancy estimates template shows how the abridged life table is used to derive life expectancy estimates. 

Abridged life tables, that group ages into five-year intervals, are used in preference to complete life tables for smaller populations. This is because death counts can be too sparse for examining mortality for single years of age, and because mid-year population estimates are either not available nor sufficiently reliable to produce these by single year of age.

This bulletin provides commentary on estimates for lower-tier local authorities in the UK. These are as follows:

• England – unitary authorities, metropolitan districts, non-metropolitan districts, London boroughs
• Northern Ireland – local government districts
• Scotland – council areas
• Wales – unitary authorities

Estimates for other levels of geography, including county authorities, combined authorities and health boards, are available in our accompanying datasets. It also provides national estimates for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales for comparison purposes. Our National life tables – life expectancy in the UK: 2022 to 2024 bulletin  provides national estimates using the more accurate complete life table methodology. 

Period life expectancies for the following periods are calculated using death registrations for years that include the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic period:  

• 2018 to 2020  

• 2019 to 2021  

• 2020 to 2022  

• 2021 to 2023  

• 2022 to 2024  

Life expectancy estimates for 2022 to 2024 are lower for many local areas compared with 2017 to 2019. This does not mean that a baby born in 2022 to 2024 will go on to live a shorter life. The reported period life expectancies assume that the higher-than-average mortality that we still observed in some areas in 2022 to 2024 will continue. It is possible that life expectancy will return to an improving trend in the future. A more detailed explanation can be found in our Has the coronavirus pandemic caused life expectancy in the UK to fall? blog post. 

The differences in life expectancy between regions or over time that are reported in this bulletin are not necessarily statistically significant. No formal statistical significance testing was applied. 

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Health state life expectancies, UK quality and methodology information (QMI). 

Accredited official statistics 

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in June 2013. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".