Mean, median and modal ages at death in the UK and its constituent countries, 2001 to 2003 and 2016 to 2018.

In 2023, the life expectancy at birth for women born in the UK was 82.77 years, compared with 78.82 years for men. By age 65 men had a life expectancy of 18.51 years, compared with 20.96 years for women.

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. Throughout most of this period, there is a steady rise in life expectancy for both males and females, with improvements in life expectancy beginning to slow in the 2010s and then starting to decline in the 2020s. Life expectancy since the 18th Century Although there has been a recent dip in life expectancy in the UK, long-term improvements to life expectancy stretch back several centuries. In 1765, life expectancy was below 39 years, and only surpassed 40 years in the 1810s, 50 years by the 1910s, 60 years by the 1930s and 70 by the 1960s. While life expectancy has broadly improved since the 1700s, this trajectory was interrupted at various points due to wars and diseases. In the early 1920s, for example, life expectancy suffered a noticeable setback in the aftermath of the First World War and Spanish Flu Epidemic. Impact of COVID-19 While improvements to UK life expectancy stalled during the 2010s, it wasn't until the 2020s that it began to decline. The impact of COVID-19 was one of the primary factors in this respect, with 2020 seeing the most deaths in the UK since 1918. The first wave of the pandemic in Spring of that year was a particularly deadly time, with weekly death figures far higher than usual. A second wave that winter saw a peak of almost 5,700 excess deaths a week in late January 2021, with excess deaths remaining elevated for several years afterward.

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.

Life expectancy at birth and at age 65, by sex, on a three-year average basis.

Annual data on death registrations by single year of age for the UK (1974 onwards) and England and Wales (1963 onwards).

Provisional deaths registration data for single year of age and average age of death (median and mean) of persons whose death involved coronavirus (COVID-19), England and Wales. Includes deaths due to COVID-19 and breakdowns by sex.

Life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy – at birth and age 65 by sex for local areas in the UK, 2016 to 2018.

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.

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;

This dataset contains indicator values for NHS (National Health Service) Outcomes Framework indicator - the average number of additional years a man or woman aged 75 can be expected to live if they continue to live in the same place and the death rates in their area remain the same for the rest of their life.

Pivot table for healthy life expectancy by sex and area type, divided by three-year intervals starting from 2011 to 2013.

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

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.

National Records of Scotland Guidance;What is ‘period’ life expectancyAll of the estimates presented in this report are ‘period’ life expectancy. They are calculated assuming that mortality rates for each age group in the time period (here 2021-2023) are constant throughout a person’s life. Period life expectancy is often described as how long a baby born now could expect to live if they experienced today’s mortality rates throughout their lifetime. It is very unlikely that this would be the case as it means that future changes in things such as medicine and legislation are not taken into consideration.Period life expectancy is not an accurate prediction of how long a person born today will actually live, but it is a useful measure of population health at a point in time and is most useful for comparing trends over time, between areas of a country and with other countries.How national life expectancy is calculatedThe latest life expectancy figures are calculated from the mid-year population estimates for Scotland and the number of deaths registered in Scotland during 2021, 2022, and 2023. Life expectancy for Scotland is calculated for each year of age and represents the average number of years that someone of that age could expect to live if death rates for each age group remained constant over their lifetime. Life expectancy in Scotland is calculated as a three-year average, produced by combining deaths and population data for the three-year period. Three years of data are needed to provide large enough numbers to make these figures accurate and lessen the effect of very ‘good’ or ‘bad’ years. Throughout this publication, the latest life expectancy figures refer to 2021-2023 period. How sub-national life expectancy is calculatedWe calculate life expectancy for areas within Scotland using a very similar method to the national figures but with a few key differences. Firstly, we use age groups rather than single year of age. This is to increase the population size of each age group to reduce fluctuations and ensure accurate calculation of mortality rates. Secondly, we use a maximum age group of 90+ whereas the national figures are calculated up to age 100. These are known as ‘abridged life tables.’ Because these methods produce slightly different figures, we also calculate a Scotland figure using the abridged method to allow for accurate comparisons between local areas for example. This Scotland figure is only for comparison and does not replace the headline national figure. You can read more information about the methods in this publication in our methodology guide on the NRS website. Uses of life expectancyLife expectancy at birth is a very useful indicator of mortality conditions across a population at a particular point in time. It also provides an objective means of comparing trends in mortality over time, between areas of a country and with other countries. This is used to monitor and investigate health inequalities and to set public health targets. Life expectancy is also used to inform pensions policy, research and teaching.

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

In 2024, the average life expectancy in the world was 71 years for men and 76 years for women. The lowest life expectancies were found in Africa, while Oceania and Europe had the highest. What is life expectancy?Life expectancy is defined as a statistical measure of how long a person may live, based on demographic factors such as gender, current age, and most importantly the year of their birth. The most commonly used measure of life expectancy is life expectancy at birth or at age zero. The calculation is based on the assumption that mortality rates at each age were to remain constant in the future. Life expectancy has changed drastically over time, especially during the past 200 years. In the early 20th century, the average life expectancy at birth in the developed world stood at 31 years. It has grown to an average of 70 and 75 years for males and females respectively, and is expected to keep on growing with advances in medical treatment and living standards continuing. Highest and lowest life expectancy worldwide Life expectancy still varies greatly between different regions and countries of the world. The biggest impact on life expectancy is the quality of public health, medical care, and diet. As of 2022, the countries with the highest life expectancy were Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Australia, all at 84–83 years. Most of the countries with the lowest life expectancy are mostly African countries. The ranking was led by the Chad, Nigeria, and Lesotho with 53–54 years.

This report presents the latest figures on male and female health expectancy, at birth and at age 65, for the UK and its four constituent countries. While life expectancy (LE) provides an estimate of average expected life-span, healthy life expectancy (HLE) divides total LE into years spent in good or ‘not good’ health. Disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) divides LE into years lived with and without a chronic illness or disability. These figures are three-year averages. LE is taken from the UK national interim life tables published annually by ONS, and the measures of health and chronic illness from the General Household Survey (GHS) in Great Britain and the Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in Northern Ireland. Source agency: Office for National Statistics Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: National Health Expectancies