Commenting on today’s ONS data, Veena Raleigh, Senior Fellow, The King’s Fund, said:
‘Healthy life expectancy1 in England in 2021–23, at 61.5 years for males and 61.9 years for females, is still well below the level of a decade ago, by 1.5 years in males and 2 years in females. In part, this reflects the impact of the early years of the pandemic when healthy life expectancy fell sharply.
'The new data also shows that the proportion of years spent in ‘good’ general health has therefore fallen from 79.5% to 77.8% in males and 77% to 74.5% in females since 2011–13, a period during which life expectancy has shown little improvement.
'The data shows the gross and persistent inequalities between local areas with high and low healthy life expectancies. For example, the number of years people are expected to live in good health is 18 years lower for males and females living in Blackpool, one of the most deprived areas, compared with Richmond, one of the least deprived areas. The gap in healthy life expectancy between the highest and lowest ranked areas in England has also grown, by 22% for males and 17% for females since 2011–13. These geographical inequalities are also reflected in life expectancy and exemplify the catastrophic impact that deprivation has on health across the country more generally.
'While this data reflects the impact of the pandemic, both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in England were stalling before Covid-19 struck. There has now been a prolonged period during which the health of England’s population has not just failed to improve, it has deteriorated. This shows how challenging it will be for the government to achieve its ambition of halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England. Poor health is also a serious impediment to economic growth, with an estimated 2.8 million people unable to work due to ill health.
'Turning this around will require concerted cross-government action and investment to improve population health and tackle the socio-economic factors driving the health inequalities that scar the nation and blight the lives of individuals, families and communities.'
Notes to editors
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