Off the wire
• Zuma sets up ministerial team to deal with student protests  • CCDI warns of weakening of Party leadership after inspections  • Kuwait Emir starts first state visit to Brunei to advance bilateral ties  • Burundi suspends cooperation with UN human rights office  • Namibia's First Lady calls on women to report gender-based violence cases  • AU inaugurates new peace, security building  • Germany focuses on speed in preparation for Namibia's International 7's tourney  • Chinese premier calls for enhanced China-EU educational cooperation  • U.S. stocks open lower as earnings season begins  • AU welcomes appointment of new UN chief  
You are here: 　 Home

Long life in Britain depends on where you live

Xinhua, October 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Baby girls born in Britain in 2011 can expect to live until an average age of 82.6 years, with males reaching an average 78.8 years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported Tuesday.

The figures are based on the health status of Britons observed between 2010 to 2012 and look at the number of years that those born five years ago can expect to enjoy in very good health.

The ONS figures say newborn males can expect to live 63.2 years or just over 80 percent of their lives in very good or good health. Females can expect to live 64.6 years, or 78.2 percent of their lives, in very good or good health.

But there are variations around Britain which show that people in some areas live up to 15 years longer.

The biggest inequalities in the years spent in very good or good health are within England, while Northern Ireland has the shortest gap between the shorter lived and those who survived the longest.

Men and women aged 65 in Wales could expect to live the smallest proportions in very good or good health at 44.7 percent and 41.5 percent respectively. They can also expect to spend the highest proportions in "bad or very bad" health, around a fifth of their surviving years beyond age 65.

Across the local areas in Britain, Manchester has the lowest number of years men can expect to live in "very good or good" health: 55.8 years. Females in the Tower Hamlets area of London can expect to live 55.9 years, the lowest number of years in very good or good health.

Just a few kilometers away, females in Richmond upon Thames could expect to live in very good or good health for 70.9 years, or 82.9 percent of their lives, 15 years longer than their fellow females in Tower Hamlets. This gap was the widest in England.

Jodie Withers from ONS said: "There is large variation in how many years people can expect to live in good health across the UK. Differences in education, employment opportunities, lifestyle behaviors, social mobility, and the wider local environment all have a major impact."

A spokesman for ONS said: "As life expectancy is increasing in the UK, health expectancies can add a quality of life dimension by estimating how much lifetime can be expected to be spent in 'very good or good' health or free from a limiting long-term illness or disability." Endit