UK Progress in life expectancy
The statistics show the following results:
- Life expectancy at birth in the UK did not improve in 2015 to 2017 and remained at 79.2 years for males and 82.9 years for females.
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Within the UK, life expectancy at birth declined by 0.1 years in 2015 to 2017 for males and females in Scotland and Wales, and for males in Northern Ireland; life expectancy at birth remained unchanged from 2014 to 2016 for females in Northern Ireland and males and females in England.
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Life expectancy at age 65 years in the UK did not improve for males and females in 2015 to 2017 and remained at 18.6 years for males and 20.9 years for females.
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Across all four UK countries, life expectancy at age 65 years remained the same in 2015 to 2017 except for males in Northern Ireland where a decline of 0.1 years was seen.
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Around one in five newborn males and one in three newborn females in the UK in 2015 to 2017 could expect to live to at least age 90 years; the chance of survival to age 90 years has remained virtually unchanged since 2012 to 2014.
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Life expectancy in the UK remained lower than in many other comparable countries internationally.
The slowdown in life expectancy improvements in the UK has continued, as 2015 to 2017 saw the lowest improvements in life expectancy since the start of the series in 1980 to 1982. 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.
More information is available on the Office for National Statistics website
