This is not the latest release. View our updated edition of this page with 2020 data. The new release of this tool also includes revised Health Index figures for the years 2015 to 2019 as a result of an improved methodology. This means figures may differ between the publications.
Health in England remained relatively stable in the years before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with improvements in areas such as risk factors for young people being offset by declines in others, such as mental health.
"Children and young people" and "Mental health" are both subdomains of the Health Index, which was developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to track how various health indicators are changing across the country.
The Health Index also reveals different trends emerging between regions, as health worsened in the North East between 2015 and 2019 but improved in the North West during the same period.
The North East's decline in health was in part caused by a deterioration in risk factors relating to crime, with the index score for this subdomain falling from 96.5 to 89.0. A rise in the score for behavioural risk factors, from 94.3 to 95.5, contributed to the North West's improved health.
All Health Index scores are relative to the 2015 baseline of 100, where 100 is equivalent to England's health in 2015.
The South East has the highest regional Health Index score (102.9) and saw a considerable improvement in health associated with economic and working conditions between 2018 and 2019.