Northern town has UK's worst life expectancy for men - as Glasgow moves off bottom spot for first time
4 December 2024, 14:36
Blackpool has the lowest male life expectancy at birth in the UK, official figures have shown.
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A baby boy born in Blackpool is currently likely to live for 73.1 years, according to the Office for National Statistics.
This is the first year that Glasgow did not have the lowest life expectancy for males since 2001.
A boy born in Glasgow is, now, likely to live for 73.6 years.
Hart in Hampshire has the highest estimated life expectancy for males, at 83.4 years.
This is closely followed by Uttlesford in Essex, with 83.0 years, Wokingham in Berkshire, 82.5, and Richmond-upon-Thames, 82.5.
After Blackpool, Manchester, Hull, and Merthyr Tydfil in Wales have the lowest life expectancy for men.
Read more: The secret to living a longer and more healthy life? Just move to Australia
Read more: Brits living around coastal areas in the UK living longer
Today’s life expectancy data for Great Britain shows a decline in most areas during 2021 to 2023, compared with the pre #COVID19 period of 2017 to 2019.
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) December 4, 2024
This suggests we are yet to see a recovery from the decrease in life expectancy we saw during the pandemic.
The statistics for female life expectancy follow similar patterns - with all the highest expectancies in the south of England, and lowest in the north.
The highest expectancy for women is in Kensington and Chelsea, with 86.5 years, Richmond-upon-Thames, 86.3, and Winchester, 86.1, and Uttesford, 86.
Greg Ceely, ONS head of population health monitoring, said: “Our results continue to show a clear geographical divide.
“For example, in England, male life expectancy in the South East is three years higher than in the North East, and female life expectancy 2.7 years higher in London compared to the North East."
The estimates of life expectancy for babies born in 2021-23 will reflect the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which contributed to a higher-than-average number of deaths in this period.
But while the pandemic disrupted the small improvements in life expectancy seen between 2010 and 2019, it does not necessarily mean a baby born between 2021 and 2023 will go on to live a shorter life than one born between 2017 and 2019.
"If mortality rates improve in the future, then period life expectancy will increase," the ONS added.
