# Life expectancy across the UK

How long a newborn can expect to live, in every part of the UK, from the latest ONS figures for 2022 to 2024. A boy born in the UK can expect about 79.2 years and a girl about 83.0. But the figure swings by around a decade between the longest and shortest lived areas. This page shows where life is longest and shortest, how the four nations compare, how the picture has changed, and where West Lothian sits.

Source page: https://britishresilienceindex.com/deep-dive/life-expectancy
Machine readable data: https://britishresilienceindex.com/data/deep-dive/life-expectancy.json

## How to read this

These are period life expectancies at birth from the Office for National Statistics. Period life expectancy is how long a newborn would live if death rates stayed at today's levels for the rest of their life; it is a snapshot of current mortality, not a forecast for any real person. Figures are three year averages, here for 2022 to 2024, by local authority and sex.

## About eighty years, and four more for women

A boy born in the UK in 2022 to 2024 can expect to live about 79.2 years and a girl about 83.0, a gap of around 3.8 years between the sexes that has narrowed slowly over time. These are period figures, a snapshot of today's death rates rather than a forecast for any individual child.

- **Uk male**: 79.2
- **Uk female**: 83
- **Sex gap**: 3.8

## Where life is longest and shortest

Where a child is born shapes how long they are likely to live. Averaging the sexes, life expectancy runs from 76.4 years in Blackpool to 85.0 years in Hart, a gap of about 8.6 years. For men alone the spread is wider still, around 10.0 years. The longest lived places are mostly prosperous areas of southern England; the shortest are in Scotland's cities and parts of the North.

**Highest**

| name | avg | male | female |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hart | 85 | 83.7 | 86.2 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 84.8 | 82.7 | 86.8 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 84.7 | 82.2 | 87.1 |
| Uttlesford | 84.6 | 82.8 | 86.4 |
| Wokingham | 84.3 | 82.8 | 85.8 |
| Winchester | 84.3 | 82.4 | 86.3 |
| Elmbridge | 84.2 | 82.4 | 86 |
| Waverley | 84.2 | 82.4 | 85.9 |

**Lowest**

| name | avg | male | female |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackpool | 76.4 | 73.7 | 79.1 |
| Glasgow City | 76.5 | 74.3 | 78.7 |
| North Lanarkshire | 77.1 | 75.2 | 78.9 |
| Merthyr Tydfil | 77.3 | 75 | 79.7 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 77.3 | 75 | 79.7 |
| North Ayrshire | 77.3 | 75 | 79.7 |
| East Ayrshire | 77.3 | 75.7 | 78.9 |
| Dundee City | 77.4 | 75.3 | 79.6 |

## England longest, Scotland shortest

All four nations sit within a few years of each other, but the order is consistent. England has the longest life expectancy at about 81.4 years on average, and Scotland the shortest at about 79.2 years. Scotland's figure, 79.2 years, has long trailed the rest of the UK.

| name | male | female | avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 79.5 | 83.3 | 81.4 |
| Northern Ireland | 78.8 | 82.6 | 80.7 |
| Wales | 78.3 | 82.2 | 80.2 |
| Scotland | 77.2 | 81.1 | 79.2 |

- **Uk avg**: 81.1

## The long rise has slowed

For most of the last century life expectancy rose steadily. Since the mid 2010s that advance stalled, and the pandemic years pushed it back. The figures below show the change at birth since 2013 to 2015, by nation and sex.

| name | before | after | change |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 80.9 | 81.1 | 0.2 |
| England | 81.2 | 81.4 | 0.2 |
| Scotland | 79.1 | 79.2 | 0.1 |
| Wales | 80.3 | 80.2 | -0.1 |
| Northern Ireland | 80.3 | 80.7 | 0.4 |

## West Lothian

In West Lothian a boy born in 2022 to 2024 can expect about 77.3 years and a girl about 80.8, an average of 79.0 years. That is close to the Scottish average of 79.2 years and a little below the UK average of 81.1 years, a reminder that even a relatively prosperous area carries Scotland's wider health gap.

- **Male**: 77.3
- **Female**: 80.8
- **Avg**: 79
- **Scotland avg**: 79.2
- **Uk avg**: 81.1

## For health and inequality

- A decade of life separates the longest and shortest lived areas. How much of that gap is avoidable, and what closes it?
- Life expectancy improvement stalled in the mid 2010s, before the pandemic. Was that a blip or a turning point?
- Scotland trails the rest of the UK by years. What drives the persistent gap, and is it narrowing?
- Women still outlive men by around four years, but the gap has shrunk. What lies behind the long convergence?

## Sources

- Life expectancy for local areas of the UK (ONS) (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/bulletins/lifeexpectancyforlocalareasoftheuk/between2001to2003and2022to2024) · Open Government Licence v3.0

## Caveats and data notes

- Period life expectancy assumes today’s death rates hold for life. It is a measure of current mortality, not a prediction for any real child.
- Figures are three year averages (2022 to 2024) and carry more uncertainty for small areas.
- Local authority boundaries and types differ across the UK, so area comparisons are indicative.
- Healthy life expectancy, the years lived in good health, varies far more than total life expectancy; it is published separately by the ONS.
- West Lothian is identified by its official area code (S12000040).
- Source: ONS Life expectancy for local areas of the UK, 2022 to 2024.

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British Resilience Index, a non-partisan UK civic data project. Every figure is
reconciled to its primary official publisher before it is shown. Free to cite with
attribution: https://britishresilienceindex.com