British life expectancy is falling to its lowest level in a decade

Data shows that life expectancy across Britain has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, mainly due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Boys born between 2020 and 2022 can be expected to live to 78.6 years, a decrease of 38 weeks compared to the same benchmark between 2017 and 2019. For girls, the expectation for the same period was 82.6 years, while it was also at 23 weeks decreased compared to 2017 and 2019.

This decline in life expectancy means it has fallen to levels seen ten years earlier between 2010 and 2012, with boys expected to live 78.7 years and girls 82.57 years.

The Office for National Statistics said the decline was mainly due to the impact of the pandemic, with deaths increasing sharply.

Pamela Cobb from the ONS said: “After a decade of slow improvements in life expectancy, we are now seeing life expectancy falling for both men and women. This decline is mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic, which led to higher mortality in 2020 and 2021.”

She added that although life expectancy had fallen, this did not necessarily mean that a baby born after the pandemic would live a shorter life due to changing mortality rates over their lifetime.

Veena Raleigh, senior fellow at The King’s Fund, said the data was worrying and “revealed the impact the pandemic has had on life expectancy in Britain”.

She said: “While life expectancy has recovered somewhat since the sharp fall in 2020 when the pandemic hit, it has not seen the recovery you would expect once the worst of the pandemic passed, pointing to deeper problems with people’s health. the nation and the resilience of the healthcare system.

“While most countries worldwide suffered devastating death tolls from Covid-19, several studies have shown that excess mortality in Britain during the pandemic was greater than most comparable Western European and other countries with high incomes.