Our life expectancy goes into REVERSE
First decline in 40 years blamed on drug deaths and heart disease
SCOTLAND’S drugs death crisis, soaring dementia rates and large numbers of heart disease fatalities have seen life expectancy fall for the first time in nearly 40 years.
The average lifespan of men and women dropped last year as the country continues to struggle with its ‘sick man of Europe’ tag.
Men now live for an average of 77 years, while women live for 81.1 years – both down on the previous year. It is the first time since the National Records of Scotland (NRS) first published statistics in 1980 that there has been a fall.
The figures also show the biggest ever decline in Scotland’s ‘natural population’. Scotland’s Registrar General attributed the fall in life expectancy to a rise in drug deaths among those aged 35-54, a slowdown in the reduction of heart disease deaths for those aged 55-74 and a spike in dementia deaths among those aged 75 and over.
It comes after shocking figures published last month showed the number of drugrelated fatalities has soared to a record 1,187 after rising 27 per cent in a year.
Scottish Labour public health spokesman David Stewart said: ‘It’s shameful that life expectancy of both men and women in Scotland has slowed down and now fallen.’
The NRS figures show that life expectancy had risen every year for three years until it stalled at 77.1 for men between 2014 and 2016. That fell to 77.0 in 2017-18.
For women, it was 81.1 in 2014 and 2015, rising to 81.2 for 2016, but fell back to 81.1 in 2017-18. For males, the difference in life expectancy between the 10 per cent most deprived and 10 per cent least deprived areas is 13 years.
Paul Lowe, Registrar General for Scotland, said: ‘The largest causes of the stall in life expectancy are the slowing of improvements seen in the reduction of deaths from heart disease and increases in drug-related deaths.’
The NRS report also show there were 7,700 more deaths than births in Scotland in 2017-18, the largest decrease in the ‘natural’ population ever recorded.
When immigration and emigration is taken into account, Scotland’s population increased to a record high of 5,438,100.
In the year up to the middle of 2018, 20,900 more people arrived in Scotland than left.
Miles Briggs, health spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: ‘This shocking revelation highlights the scandal that is Scotland’s high number of drug deaths. Too many Scots lives are being destroyed by addiction while the SNP pursues its misguided maintenance policy.’
The NRS report also revealed an ageing population. In the middle of last year, 19 per cent of all people in Scotland were aged 65 or over, compared with 16 per cent in mid-2008. The report also showed that the most common type of household is single occupancy, with 885,000 people living alone.
It projects that the number of pensioners living alone will rise to 464,500 in 2041.
Age Scotland chief executive Brian Sloan said: ‘We need to ensure that Scotland is fit for the future. This includes ensuring our precious health and social care services are properly resourced.’
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: ‘While Scotland’s total population is the highest it has ever been, and it is welcome that people are living longer, we face a number of challenges.
‘Against a backdrop of a record fall in the birth rate, Scotland’s population is ageing.
‘We need to grow our population to ensure we have sustainable, vibrant and resilient communities and drive inclusive growth.’
‘Shameful that life expectancy has fallen’
LIFE expectancy in Scotland has risen since the 1980s as a result of medical advances and public health reform.
But worrying new data from the National Records of Scotland shows it has stalled in recent years – and is now beginning to fall.
Evidence of a growing health apartheid and dwindling birth rate should prove deeply troubling for the SNP.
One of the key factors cited to explain declining life expectancy is the soaring number of drug-related deaths – now the highest in the developed world.
The SNP has attempted to avoid responsibility by accusing the UK Government of failing to change drug laws to allow the creation of socalled heroin ‘shooting galleries’.
But it has been in office since 2007, and since then the death toll has spiralled.
Yesterday’s figures provide a snapshot of modern Scotland that should drive further healthcare reform – and put an end to the culture of political blame-shifting.