Gap in life expectancy widens for rich and poor in pandemic

THE death rate in the most deprived parts of Scotland is almost twice that of the most affluent areas – with higher mortality rates for the poorest people from Covid, suicide, alcohol and drugs.

Research from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) has revealed that for all causes of death, the mortality rate for the most deprived areas was 1.9 times that of the least deprived areas in 2020.

The study also found the mortality rate for drug deaths was 18.4 times higher in the poorest areas, 4.3 times higher for alcohol-related deaths and 2.4 times higher for Covid-19 fatalities.

The NRS report, titled Scotland’s Population 2020 – The Registrar General’s Annual Review Of Demographic Trends, found “there is a huge gap in healthy life expectancy for people in the most and least deprived areas”.

The study found that males born in Scotland’s most deprived areas “can expect about 25 years fewer in good health” than those born in the most affluent areas, with the gap more than 21 years for females.

The report adds the Covid-19 pandemic “appears to be increasing this effect”.

Pete Whitehouse, director of statistical services at NRS, said: “An ongoing challenge is how deprivation continues to have a significant and negative impact on how we live and die in Scotland.

“A female born in Scotland’s most deprived areas is likely to have only 50 years of good health. Her peer in our least deprived areas would expect to have over 70 years of good health. The picture is even slightly worse for males.”

For Covid-related deaths, “the gap in mortality rates between the most and least deprived areas has increased as the pandemic progressed”, with it increasing from 2.1 times as high in the early stages of the crisis to 2.4 times as high.

The study found that in the first three months of the pandemic, deaths of South Asian people “were almost twice as likely to involve Covid-19 than deaths of white Scottish people”.

But the research found “there was no evidence of a significant difference for Chinese or white Irish people, compared to white Scottish people”.

Julie Ramsay, head of vital events at NRS, said: “Since the first registered Covid-19 death in March 2020,

NRS has reported on over 10,500 such deaths.

“The pandemic has had a devastating impact on the lives of people across Scotland. But it is clear from our statistics this impact has varied over time and across the country.

“We know there have been two clear waves so far. Also, death rates in our most deprived communities were

2.4 times as high as those in our least deprived communities.

“This is a higher gap than the general mortality rate.”

The report highlights the 1,339 drug deaths recorded in Scotland last year, warning that “drug-related deaths have been increasing since 1996 but since 2013 the upward trend has been steeper”.

It adds that the number of drug deaths in April, May, June and July of 2020 “was significantly higher than it was during the same months in the last five years”.

The study highlighted Scotland’s ageing population – with the country now home to about 400,000 more older people than in the 1990s. Over the same period, the number of children has reduced by about one-tenth, while those aged over 65 has grown by more than one-third.

Beth Watson, Statistician for population and migration statistics at NRS, said : “We are living longer. People aged 65+ now outnumber people under 16.

“We need to understand how our population is ageing so we can prepare for it. For example, the number of people dying from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease has roughly tripled in the last 20 years.

“These changes will put greater demand on health and social care services.”

We are living longer – now people aged 65 plus outnumber those under 16