Wales lags behind England and Northern Ireland as new life expectancy figures are published

Life expectancy for women in the UK has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but men are yet to recover fully — with new figures showing Wales still lags behind England and Northern Ireland.

New estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that a baby girl born in the UK between 2022 and 2024 can expect to live for 83.0 years, back to the level recorded immediately before Covid-19.

The figure for boys has risen to 79.1 years, an improvement on the previous period but still slightly below the 79.3 years recorded in 2017–19.

In Wales, life expectancy remains lower than the UK average. Girls born in 2022–24 are expected to live 82.2 years, while boys can expect 78.3 years — both higher than during the pandemic years but below figures in England and Northern Ireland.

ONS head of population life events Greg Ceely said that while life expectancy has increased for both sexes, “men remain just below pre-pandemic levels”, and substantial geographical differences persist.

“The highest life expectancies tend to be in the south of England, while the lowest are in the north of England and Scotland,” he said.

Wales continues to feature prominently in the UK’s lowest-ranking areas. Merthyr Tydfil recorded one of the lowest male life expectancies in the UK at 75.0 years, placing it alongside some of Scotland’s most deprived regions.

For girls, Blaenau Gwent recorded one of the lowest figures at 79.2 years, only slightly above Glasgow — which has the lowest in the UK at 78.7.

Across the UK, life expectancy improved from the sharp falls seen during the height of Covid-19, when large numbers of excess deaths pushed estimates downward.

Complex

But the long-term trend tells a more complex story. The steady improvements seen throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s slowed significantly during the 2010s, plateauing before the pandemic struck.

Among the devolved nations, England continues to have the highest life expectancy — 83.3 years for females and 79.4 for males — while Scotland consistently records the lowest at 81.1 and 77.1 respectively.

Northern Ireland sits between England and Wales at 82.6 years for females and 78.8 for males.

Local variation is stark. Blackpool remains the lowest-ranked area for male life expectancy at 73.7 years, while Hart in Hampshire again tops the table with 83.7 years — a 10-year gap between the two.

For females, the range spans 78.7 years in Glasgow to 87.1 years in Kensington & Chelsea, an 8.4-year difference.

South of England

Many of the UK’s highest life expectancy areas are concentrated in the south of England, while the lowest clusters are in Scotland and northern England, with Wales also appearing among the worst-affected regions for both sexes.

London showed the strongest post-pandemic recovery, with life expectancy at or above 2017–19 levels in nearly 70% of areas. Northern England had the fewest areas back to pre-Covid levels.

Jason Strelitz of the Health Foundation said the recovery “does not mask the fact that long-term progress has stalled,” arguing that men would be living 3.6 years longer and women 2.6 years longer had pre-2012 trends continued. He called for a “clear, cross-government strategy” to narrow widening health inequalities.