UK Healthy Life Expectancy Drops Two Years Over Past Decade, Analysis Finds

A new analysis of healthy life expectancy in the UK shows the number of years people spend in “good health” has fallen by around two years over the past decade, dropping to just under 61 for both men and women.

“The number of years people in the UK spend in good health is falling, according to a new report”

BBC

The Health Foundation said the decline is a “watershed moment,” and it tied the fall to poverty, poor housing and lifestyle factors such as obesity, along with the impact of the Covid pandemic.

BBC

The BBC reported that the analysis is based on data from the Office for National Statistics between 2022-24 and 2012-2014, and it found that those in the wealthiest 10% of areas could expect “around 20 more years of good health” than those in the poorest.

In England, the BBC said Richmond in London had the highest rates of HLE at 69 for men and 70 for women, while Blackpool had 51 for men and Hartlepool had 51 for women.

The BBC also reported that London was the only region that saw an improvement in HLE over the period.

The study found that in more than 90% of areas, HLE was now below the state pension age of 66 or 67, and in one in 10 it was below 55.

The Guardian added that the UK was one of only five countries where healthy life expectancy declined, and it said the UK fell from 14th to 20th in the 21-nation international league table with only the US below it.

The Health Foundation’s analysis, as described by multiple outlets, quantified the decline for men and women across the same two time windows.

The BBC said HLE dropped by around two years to “just under 61 for both men and women,” while the Guardian and GB News gave the specific endpoints: men fell from 62.9 years in 2012-14 to 60.7 years in 2022-24, and women fell from 63.7 to 60.9 over the same timeframe.

EMJ

The Guardian reported that the proportion of life in good health fell from 79% to 77% for men and from 77% to 73% for women, and it said the Office for National Statistics analysis showed the change in the share of life spent in good health.

GB News similarly stated that “Men's healthy life expectancy has dropped from 62.9 years during 2012-14 to just 60.7 years in 2022-24, while women have seen a fall from 63.7 to 60.9 years.”

The BBC also described how the measure is calculated, saying HLE is “the technical term used by experts for an estimate of how much of a lifetime is spent in good health,” based on how people feel and report in surveys as well as on mortality data.

The BBC said that in more than 90% of areas HLE was below the state pension age of 66 or 67, and it added that in one in 10 it was below 55.

The Guardian emphasized that the decline is so significant that “in more than 90% of the UK, people now start suffering from illness before the state pension age of 66,” and it framed the shift as a “stark truth” that the UK’s health is “going backwards.”

The Health Foundation’s leadership and analysts connected the decline to specific drivers and economic consequences, while other health advocates emphasized prevention and inequality.

“Britain's health has deteriorated significantly over the past decade, with the average person now enjoying more than two fewer years free from illness or disability, according to new research”

GB News

The BBC quoted Andrew Mooney, the think tank’s principal data analyst, saying: "The UK has the highest levels of obesity in western Europe and there has been a surge in mental ill health, especially among young people."

Mooney added that this created “a significant economic cost, with poor health driving people out of the workforce and locking young people out of education, employment and training,” and the BBC reported that the Health Foundation said the findings should act as a “wake-up call for policymakers.”

The Guardian quoted Dr Jennifer Dixon, the Health Foundation’s chief executive, saying: “These findings reveal a stark truth – the UK’s health is going backwards”, and it added her warning that “The lights on the dashboard are flashing red.”

The Guardian also quoted Dixon linking the decline to obesity and to deaths caused by alcohol, drugs and suicide, and it said she urged ministers to “force food firms to make their products healthier, introduce minimum unit pricing of alcohol in England, as Scotland has done, and tackle drug-related harm.”

The BBC included a different voice from the NHS Alliance: Dr Layla McCay, policy director at the NHS Alliance, said: "The figures are a stark reminder of how deeply health inequalities are affecting people's lives, with too many communities in deprived areas spending more years in poor health."

McCay said: "Our members have been clear that the answer has to be prevention first - tackling the wider determinants of health, strengthening community-based care and improving access to support closer to home."

While the overall picture is a decline for both sexes, the reporting also focused on gendered differences and on whether policy plans can reverse the trend.

The Independent said the Health Foundation analysis warned that healthy life expectancy had declined for both men and women, but it said it declined more for females than for males.

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It gave the male and female changes as “Healthy life expectancy for males in the UK fell from 62.9 to 60.7 years between 2012–14 and 2022–24, and from 63.7 to 60.9 years for females,” and it said the decline reflected a reduction in the proportion of life spent in good health.

The Independent reported that the decline in the proportion of life in good health went “from 79 per cent to 77 per cent for males and from 77 per cent to 73 per cent.”

It also connected the findings to timing, saying the analysis came “just weeks after the government published its women’s health plan,” and it noted that the plan promised to improve women’s health and life expectancy.

The Independent then brought in skepticism from the Nuffield Trust, saying experts were “skeptical that the measures set out in Labour’s plan for women would actually achieve this.”

The Nuffield Trust analysis, as quoted by the Independent, said hitting the ambition would require improving healthy life expectancy for women in the most deprived areas by “12.8 years,” and it argued that the government had not provided evidence the measures would “turn around” the decline.

The outlets portray the decline as having immediate consequences for work, education, and the cost of welfare, while also setting up a policy fight over prevention and regulation.

“Britain is grappling with a silent biological recession as new figures reveal a nation living longer, but spending vast stretches of that time in chronic pain and infirmity”

International Business Times UK

The BBC said the report found the decline had a “significant impact on the ability of people to work” and that it aligns with other figures showing high numbers out of work because of ill-health.

International Business Times UK

The Guardian said the findings help explain why “a record 2.8 million people are too sick to work,” and it linked the trend to “deaths are rising among 25- to 49-year-olds” and “growing numbers of 16- to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training because they have a physical or mental health condition.”

The Guardian also reported that Dixon said “Turning the tide requires a new approach that goes far beyond patching up the NHS to tackling the root causes of poor health,” and it quoted her urging “Successive governments, including the current one, have known this but failed to take the action needed.”

In response, the Guardian said the Department of Health and Social Care called the decline a “disgrace” and pointed to the tobacco and vapes bill receiving royal assent this week and a ban on advertising junk food before 9pm on television as evidence of its “radical” approach.

GB News echoed the Health Foundation’s framing, quoting Dixon again that “The lights on the dashboard are flashing red,” and it said the Department of Health and Social Care described the nation’s declining health as “a disgrace,” while pointing to forthcoming measures including “the tobacco and vapes bill receiving royal assent this week” and restrictions on junk food advertising before 9pm.

The BBC also reported that the Health Foundation’s analysis found overall life expectancy had remained broadly stable, which it said makes the decline in good health more striking, and it described the report as a “wake-up call for policymakers.”