Stark new figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal a deepening divide in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas of England and Wales, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Compared to the pre-pandemic period (2017–2019), life expectancy at birth in England between 2020 and 2022 fell by 1.4 years for males (to 72.6 years) and 1.1 years for females (to 77.7 years) in the most deprived areas. In Wales, the decline was 0.7 years for males (to 73.5 years) and 1.0 years for females (to 77.9 years).
The inequality in life expectancy at birth in England now stands at 10.7 years for males and 8.5 years for females. For healthy life expectancy, the gap is even more pronounced: 19.1 years for males and 20.2 years for females.
In Wales, the life expectancy gap is 9.5 years for males and 8.0 years for females, with healthy life expectancy disparities reaching 19.7 years for males and 24.5 years for females.
The proportion of life expected to be spent in "good" health has also declined sharply in deprived communities. In England, males in the most deprived areas can expect just 70.4% of their lives in good health, compared to 84.5% in the least deprived. For females, the figures are 65.1% and 81.5%, respectively — the lowest since records began in 2013.
In Wales, the situation is similarly concerning. Males in the most deprived areas are expected to live 70.2% of their lives in good health, versus 83.6% in the least deprived. For females, the gap is even wider: 61.5% compared to 80.7%.
These findings underscore the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health and highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions to address health inequalities across the UK.
With the government working to reduce this life expectancy gap, the NHS Confederation has responded to the figures. Director of Policy at the NHS Confederation, Dr Layla McCay, said:
“These figures paint a worrying but sadly unsurprising picture of the gap emerging between how long people in the most and least deprived areas in England can expect to live in good health. While we must remember that this data covers the period of the Covid pandemic, it is deeply disappointing to see drops in both life expectancy at birth and a widening of the gap in healthy life expectancy between people in the richest and poorest areas.
“Health leaders fully support the government’s health mission to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas through tackling the social, economic and commercial determinants of health. That is why we welcome the commitment in the government's newly-released Ten-Year Health Plan to establish a neighbourhood health centre in every community, beginning with places where healthy life expectancy is lowest.
“The government’s ambition to shift from sickness to prevention aligns with this goal of preventing the onset of long-term physical and mental health conditions and helping those with chronic conditions to improve their health. This will be key to improving people’s health and positively impacting healthy life expectancy.
“Although an ambitious mission, the Ten-Year Health Plan outlines many of the changes required to improve life expectancy and years lived in good health, as well as empower people to make the healthy choice. We stand ready with our members to work with government and NHS England on implementing the vital reforms set out in the plan.”
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