The portion of your life you can expect to spend in good health could be up to 20 years less than those in better-off areas, depending on where you live in England.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in 2022 to 2024, overall life expectancy at birth was 73.2 years for males and 78.3 years for females in the most deprived areas of England.
In the least deprived areas of the country, life expectancy is 83.6 years and 86.4 years for males and females, respectively.
This data shows a stark disparity in overall life expectancy based on deprivation, but the difference becomes even more apparent when comparing healthy life expectancy.
Healthy life expectancy refers to the number of years a person can expect to spend in good health.
According to the latest data from the ONS, healthy life expectancy in the most deprived areas of England was 49.8 years for males and 48.2 years for females. In the least deprived areas, it was 69.2 years for males and 68.5 years for females.
This represents a difference of around 20 years in healthy life expectancy between those in the most and least deprived areas of England.
The most recent data from the ONS shows that healthy life expectancy is decreasing, and the gap between healthy and overall life expectancy is increasing.
It is important to note, however, that life expectancy data was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to increased mortality from 2020 – 2022.
Deprivation is measured by the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, which produces a per-area deprivation score that accounts for factors such as income, health, education, employment, crime, and living environment.
You can explore the deprivation score of your postcode using the government’s Local Deprivation Explorer, which is based off this data.
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