Provisional Life Expectancy Figures In Scotland Released

26th September 2023

Life expectancy in Scotland was 76.5 years for males and 80.7 years for females in the years 2020-2022, according to new provisional figures released by National Records of Scotland.

Figures show life expectancy was highest in East Renfrewshire for females and East Dunbartonshire for males, and lowest in Glasgow city for both males and females in the years 2020-2022.

Life Expectancy improvements stalled in around 2012-2014 following a long period of sustained increases.

NRS is releasing provisional Life Expectancy figures ahead of publishing 2022 mid-year population estimates early next year. Census data will allow revised population estimates for the last 10 years to be produced and NRS will then be able to revise life expectancy figures and publish these next year.

Life expectancy at birth
In Scotland, life expectancy at birth for 2020-2022 was 76.5 years for males and 80.7 years for females. This is a decrease of 3 weeks for males and 5.7 weeks for females since 2019-2021.

Between the early 1980s and early 2010s, life expectancy was increasing in Scotland. In 2012-2014 the trend changed and life expectancy stopped increasing and began to plateau. Since 2018-2020, life expectancy has fallen each year.

The slowing in life expectancy improvements
Between 2000-2002 and 2012-2014, life expectancy was increasing by around 16 weeks per year for males and 10 weeks per year for females. Between 2012-2014 and 2017-2019, this slowed considerably to increase by less than one week per year for both males and females. Since 2017-2019, life expectancy has fallen by almost 11 weeks per year for males and just over 7 weeks per year for females.

Life expectancy at older ages
In 2020-2022, life expectancy at age 65 was 17.3 years for males and 19.6 years for females. This is a decrease of five weeks for females and almost six weeks for males since 2019-2021. Life expectancy at age 65 has followed a similar pattern to life expectancy at birth with increases up until 2012-2014 followed by a stall and then a fall since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Life expectancy in Scotland's NHS health boards
Life expectancy was lowest in Lanarkshire at 79.4 (±0.3) years for females and in Greater Glasgow and Clyde 74.8 (±0.2) years for males.

Life expectancy was highest in Shetland at 83.7 (±1.2) years for females and in Orkney at 79.5 (±1.6) years for males.

The stall in life expectancy growth across Scotland
The stall in life expectancy growth seen in Scotland has also been seen in areas within Scotland. In some areas however, the change has been greater than others. In certain council areas, for example Dundee City, South Ayrshire and Inverclyde, the annual rate of growth has fallen dramatically since 2012-2014. Twenty-five council areas have had a decrease in male life expectancy since 2012-2014 and for females, 22 councils have experienced a decrease.

Read the full report HERE
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