Growth in UK life expectancy stalls

Life expectancy growth has stalled at a record low. Figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that life expectancy has stopped growing in the UK and is even going backwards in some areas. Between 2015 and 2017 life expectancy at birth remained at 79.2 years for men and 82.9 for women, the first time there was no increase at all from the previous data. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, life expectancy fell.

LIFE expectancy growth has stalled at a record low, but there are more male centenarians than ever before.

Figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that life expectancy has stopped growing in the UK and is even going backwards in some areas. Between 2015 and 2017 life expectancy at birth remained at 79.2 years for men and 82.9 for women, the first time there was no increase at all from the previous data.

In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, life expectancy fell, with the largest drop, 0.11 years, for men in Wales.

Countries within the UK had seen a fall in life expectancy before, but this year’s figures were the largest recorded since the start of the series in 1980 to 1982. Sophie Sanders, of the ONS’ Centre for Ageing and Demography, said: “The slowdown in life expectancy improvements in the UK has continued, as 2015 to 2017 saw the lowest improvements in life expectancy.

“Some decreases in life expectancy at birth have been seen in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland while in England, life expectancy has remained unchanged from 2014 to 2016.

“This slowing is reflected in the chances of surviving to 90 years from birth, which has also seen virtually no improvement since 2012 to 2014.”

Martin Mckee, professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, suggested that problems in the social care system could be behind stalling life expectancy among older people.

“Our earlier data covering up to 2016 shows that the problem is due to a worsening of life expectancy in the over-75s, and particularly the over-85s, and more recent work done by the Office of National Statistics has pointed to a problem of younger ages as well, which seem to be linked to injuries from violence in particular, and what the Americans have called the diseases of despair,” he said. The most recent US figures show that life expectancy fell to 78.6 in 2016 from 78.7 the year before.

Sanjay Kinra, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the London school, said countries including the UK and US were “victims of our own success”, as growing wealth led to greater obesity and diabetes.

“Some of the wealth of the nation that helped them get to that point then starts to work in the other direction by causing conditions of affluence,” he said. However, Prof Sarah Harper CBE, founder and co-director of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, said the

levels of fluctuation in the figures meant it was difficult to conclude that life expectancy had peaked.

“Longevity is still increasing, but I think it could be to do with inequality in our society.

“The richest people living in the least deprived areas are probably still improving their life expectancy and it is the poorest, those living in deprived areas, who are simply not keeping up,” she said.

Separate figures released by the ONS showed that for much older people, longevity was still improving, with the number of men reaching 100 at a record 2,470.

Among those aged 90 to 94 years, there were now only twice as many women as men, the ONS said.