New figures published by the Office for National Statistics have shown that, over the 2015-17 period, life expectancy stopped rising for the first time since records began.

New figures published by the Office for National Statistics have shown that, over the 2015-17 period, life expectancy stopped rising for the first time since records began.

The figures see the UK now falling behind other modern economies.

The cause of the slowdown has not been identified, although the ONS does point to particular circumstances that existed during 2015-17. In England and Wales, 2015 saw the largest annual percentage increase in deaths since 1968 - a rise that coincided with the peak in flu activity for the 2014/15 season as well as an exceptionally hard winter.

Annual change in life expectancy at birth in weeks, Male and Female

This chart shows that life expectancy was increasing from 1991 to around 2011 (and at an increasing rate) but since then has slowed and, according to the most recent figures, has stopped.

England vs Wales vs Scotland vs Northern Ireland

Although for the UK as a whole there has been no change in life expectancy, in some parts it has actually fallen.

In both Scotland and Wales, life expectancy has fallen slightly by around 6 weeks.

Scotland has the lowest life expectancy of any UK country (77.0 for males and 81.1 for females), followed by Wales (78.3 for males and 82.3 for females).

The figures for Northern Ireland are 78.4 for males and 82.3 for females.

England has the highest life expectancy (79.5 years for males and 83.1 years for females).

“The UK has slumped from being one of the strongest performers when it comes to improving life expectancy to bottom of the league. There is a real human cost behind these statistics and we urgently need to understand more about why this is happening.”
— Sir Steve Webb, a former Liberal Democrat pensions minister and director of policy at Royal London
“More must be done to understand what is driving this. These figures starkly highlight the need for health and care services to adapt to our ageing population, and the government must ensure that these services can support people to live long, healthy, happy lives.”
— Janet Morrison, chief executive of Independent Age
“This slowing in improvements is reflected in the chances of surviving to age 90 years from birth, which has also seen virtually no improvement since 2012 to 2014”
— Sophie Sanders of the ONS Centre for Ageing and Demography
“It’s hard to attribute precise cause and effect, but the fact we are seeing this trend at the same time as our health and care services are under such acute strain is surely more than a coincidence”
— Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK

The future

Life expectancy figures are unable to make any account of the impact of what the future might bring.

We may see “step” changes in life expectancy in future, as the impact of revolutionary new technologies is felt. The first person to live to 150 is already alive right now. Telomere research could hold the key to immortality. Nanotechnology could repair our bodies keeping them young and healthy for centuries, whilst advances in genomics could hold the key to curing both diseases and ageing.

Conversely, our globalised life and fast-moving supply chains could easily lead to the spread of pandemic flu, causing life expectancies across the globe to plummet.

For more on life expectancy in the UK, go to our statistics pages.

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