WIREDGOV

Main points

• In 2009 to 2013, life expectancy at birth in England for males was 79.1 years, but the level of inequality in life expectancy between males living in the most and least deprived parts of England was 7.9 years. Life expectancy for females was 83.0 years. This was 4 years higher than for males, but despite that the level of inequality in female life expectancy between the most and least deprived was 2 years less than for males (5.9 years).
• The number of years an individual could expect to live in good health (healthy life expectancy) in 2009 to 2013 was 63.5 years for males and 64.8 years for females. The level of inequality between those living in the most and least deprived parts of England was 16.7 years for males and 16.8 years for females, much greater than the inequality in life expectancy. Inequality in disability-free life expectancy (years of life spent free from disability) was slightly lower than inequality in healthy life expectancy for both males and females (14.5 and 13.6 years, respectively).
• In the ten years between 1999 to 2003 and 2009 to 2013, there was little change in the level of inequality in England between the most and least deprived for both life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy among males and females. Data are not available to measure the change in inequality in healthy life expectancy on a comparable basis over this time period.
• For life expectancy there was a small fall of 0.1 years in male inequality and a slight rise of 0.5 years in female inequality.
• For disability-free life expectancy there was a fall of 0.7 years in male inequality and a slight rise of 0.3 years in female inequality.
• The local authorities in England with the widest inequalities in life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy are mostly in the North West, North East, Yorkshire and The Humber and some parts of Inner London.
• Some authorities with wide inequalities in healthy life expectancy also have low overall healthy life expectancy for the authority as a whole. Authorities with these characteristics are largely dominated by metropolitan areas in relatively deprived parts of the North West, North East, Yorkshire and The Humber and the West Midlands.
• By contrast, those authorities with low overall healthy life expectancy and narrow inequalities were particularly found in London.
• Public Health England will continue to report on inequalities in life expectancy for England and within local authorities on an annual basis as part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF). Inequality in healthy life expectancy within England as a whole is also reported annually as part of the PHOF, but annual figures on inequality within local authorities are not available.

Get all the tables for this publication in the data section of this publication.