It is only in the past two centuries where demographics and the development of human populations has emerged as a subject in its own right, as industrialization and improvements in medicine gave way to exponential growth of the world's population. There are very few known demographic studies conducted before the 1800s, which means that modern scholars have had to use a variety of documents from centuries gone by, along with archeological and anthropological studies, to try and gain a better understanding of the world's demographic development. Genealogical records One such method is the study of genealogical records from the past; luckily, there are many genealogies relating to European families that date back as far as medieval times. Unfortunately, however, all of these studies relate to families in the upper and elite classes; this is not entirely representative of the overall population as these families had a much higher standard of living and were less susceptible to famine or malnutrition than the average person (although elites were more likely to die during times of war). Nonetheless, there is much to be learned from this data. Impact of the Black Death In the centuries between 1200 and 1745, English male aristocrats who made it to their 21st birthday were generally expected to live to an age between 62 and 72 years old. The only century where life expectancy among this group was much lower was in the 1300s, where the Black Death caused life expectancy among adult English noblemen to drop to just 45 years. Experts assume that the pre-plague population of England was somewhere between four and seven million people in the thirteenth century, and just two million in the fourteenth century, meaning that Britain lost at least half of its population due to the plague. Although the plague only peaked in England for approximately eighteen months, between 1348 and 1350, it devastated the entire population, and further outbreaks in the following decades caused life expectancy in the decade to drop further. The bubonic plague did return to England sporadically until the mid-seventeenth century, although life expectancy among English male aristocrats rose again in the centuries following the worst outbreak, and even peaked at more than 71 years in the first half of the sixteenth century.

Life expectancy in the United Kingdom was below 39 years in the year 1765, and over the course of the next two and a half centuries, it is expected to have increased by more than double, to 81.1 by the year 2020. Although life expectancy has generally increased throughout the UK's history, there were several times where the rate deviated from its previous trajectory. These changes were the result of smallpox epidemics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, new sanitary and medical advancements throughout time (such as compulsory vaccination), and the First world War and Spanish Flu epidemic in the 1910s.

Period life expectancy for single-year periods, at birth and other age groups at regional and local authority levels in constituent countries of Great Britain. These are official statistics in development.

United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data was reported at 80.956 Year in 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 80.956 Year for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 75.380 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 81.305 Year in 2014 and a record low of 70.827 Year in 1963. United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision, or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Period life expectancy by age and sex for the UK. Each national life table is based on population estimates, births and deaths for a period of three consecutive years. Tables are published annually.

In 2022 life expectancy for both males and females at birth fell when compared to 2021. Male life expectancy fell from 78.71 years to 78.57 years, and from 82.68 years to 82.57 years for women.

Male life expectancy at birth fell in all four countries of the United Kingdom in 2020-22 when compared with 2019/21. English men had a life expectancy of 78.83, compared with 76.52 in Scotland, 77.93 in Wales and 78.43 in Northern Ireland. In both England and Wales, life expectancy ticked up for the period 2021/23.

Virgin Islands (British) Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data was reported at 77.276 Year in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 77.177 Year for 2022. Virgin Islands (British) Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 72.929 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 77.276 Year in 2023 and a record low of 62.709 Year in 1960. Virgin Islands (British) Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Virgin Islands (British) – Table VG.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.;(1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision; or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics.;Weighted average;

Virgin Islands (British) Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data was reported at 74.526 Year in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 74.434 Year for 2022. Virgin Islands (British) Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 71.135 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 74.526 Year in 2023 and a record low of 60.785 Year in 1960. Virgin Islands (British) Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Virgin Islands (British) – Table VG.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.;(1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision; (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics.;Weighted average;

Pivot table for life expectancy by sex and area type, divided by three-year intervals starting from 2001 to 2003.

United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data was reported at 79.200 Year in 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 79.200 Year for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 72.600 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 79.500 Year in 2014 and a record low of 67.900 Year in 1963. United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

This table contains 2394 series, with data for years 1991 - 1991 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 items: Canada ...), Population group (19 items: Entire cohort; Income adequacy quintile 1 (lowest);Income adequacy quintile 2;Income adequacy quintile 3 ...), Age (14 items: At 25 years; At 30 years; At 40 years; At 35 years ...), Sex (3 items: Both sexes; Females; Males ...), Characteristics (3 items: Life expectancy; High 95% confidence interval; life expectancy; Low 95% confidence interval; life expectancy ...).

Life expectancy at birth figures have been calculated for wards in England and Wales based on deaths from 1999-2003. Results are available for persons for all wards. Figures have also been produced for males and females where sex-specific ward-level populations were big enough to allow the calculation of sufficiently robust results. Source agency: Office for National Statistics Designation: Experimental Official Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Life expectancy at birth for wards in England and Wales (experimental)

This indicator measures inequalities in life expectancy at birth within England as a whole, each English region, and each local authority. Life expectancy at birth is calculated for each deprivation decile of lower super output areas within each area and then the slope index of inequality (SII) is calculated based on these figures.

The SII is a measure of the social gradient in life expectancy, i.e., how much life expectancy varies with deprivation. It takes account of health inequalities across the whole range of deprivation within each area and summarises this in a single number. This represents the range in years of life expectancy across the social gradient from most to least deprived, based on a statistical analysis of the relationship between life expectancy and deprivation across all deprivation deciles.

Life expectancy at birth is a measure of the average number of years a person would expect to live based on contemporary mortality rates. For a particular area and time period, it is an estimate of the average number of years a newborn baby would survive if he or she experienced the age-specific mortality rates for that area and time period throughout his or her life.

The SII for England and for regions have been presented alongside the local authority figures in order to improve the display of the indicators on the overview page. However, they should not be considered as comparators for the local authority figures. The SII for England takes account of the full range of deprivation and mortality across the whole country. This does not therefore provide a suitable benchmark with which to compare local authority results, which take into account the range of deprivation and mortality within much smaller geographies.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

Pivot table for life expectancy by sex and area type, divided by three-year intervals starting from 2001 to 2003.

A global phenomenon, known as the demographic transition, has seen life expectancy from birth increase rapidly over the past two centuries. In pre-industrial societies, the average life expectancy was around 24 years, and it is believed that this was the case throughout most of history, and in all regions. The demographic transition then began in the industrial societies of Europe, North America, and the West Pacific around the turn of the 19th century, and life expectancy rose accordingly. Latin America was the next region to follow, before Africa and most Asian populations saw their life expectancy rise throughout the 20th century.

Period life expectancy by age and sex for 1980 to 2023 for England, Wales (and combined), Scotland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, and the UK. Each life table is based on population estimates, births and deaths for a single year.

Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by local areas in England and Wales Source agency: Office for National Statistics Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by local areas

Presents period life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by sex for health areas in the United Kingdom.

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Life expectancy for health areas