20th February 2026
The latest ONS figures on healthy life expectancy paint a stark picture of a country where people are living longer but spending more of those years in poor health.
Between 2011-2013 and 2022-2024, every nation of the UK experienced a decline in the number of years people can expect to live in good health.
The fall is not marginal; it is the steepest recorded since the data series began, and it exposes deepening inequalities between regions, nations, and communities.
Across the UK as a whole, healthy life expectancy at birth in 2022-2024 fell to 60.7 years for males and 60.9 years for females. For men, this represents a drop of nearly two years compared with the pre‑pandemic period; for women, the fall is even sharper at around two and a half years. These declines come despite overall life expectancy stabilising or improving slightly since the pandemic, meaning that people are now living longer but spending more of their later years managing illness, disability, or chronic conditions.
The national picture masks significant differences between the four nations. England continues to have the highest healthy life expectancy, with men living around 60.9 years in good health and women around 61.3 years.
Northern Ireland follows closely, with both men and women averaging around 60 to 61 healthy years, and men there enjoying the highest proportion of their total lifespan spent in good health. Wales, by contrast, records the lowest healthy life expectancy for women at around 58.5 years, while men average just under 59.5 years.
But it is Scotland that stands out most sharply: Scottish men have the lowest healthy life expectancy in the entire UK, at just 59.1 years, and Scottish women also fall below the UK average, at roughly 60 years.
These national averages conceal even deeper internal divides. In Scotland, the healthiest areas such as the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, and East Renfrewshire report some of the highest healthy life expectancies in the country, though island estimates come with wider uncertainty.
At the other end of the spectrum, places like North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire record some of the lowest figures in the UK, with men in North Lanarkshire expected to live only 52.9 years in good health and women 52.3 years. These gaps are not narrowing; they are widening. In fact, the difference between the healthiest and least healthy areas across the UK has now reached nearly 15 years for men and almost 16 years for women, the widest inequality recorded since the ONS began tracking this measure.
The decline in healthy life expectancy is not evenly distributed across time or geography. Many Scottish local authorities saw significant drops compared with the 2019-2021 period.
East Lothian, for example, experienced a fall of 4.4 healthy years for men, while Stirling saw a dramatic 5.7‑year decline for women. These are not small fluctuations; they represent major shifts in population health over a short period.
The ONS identifies several factors behind the decline. The long shadow of the COVID‑19 pandemic continues to affect mortality and long‑term health outcomes, particularly for those with pre‑existing conditions.
Chronic illnesses — including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mental‑health‑related conditions have become more prevalent. Deprivation remains a powerful predictor of poor health, with the most deprived communities experiencing the steepest declines. The ONS also notes that changes to survey methodology and reduced sample sizes may affect precision, but the overall trend is clear and robust: the UK is becoming a country where more years are lived in ill health.
For Scotland, the implications are particularly serious. The combination of lower healthy life expectancy, higher levels of deprivation, and long‑standing health inequalities places additional pressure on already strained public services.
A population that becomes unhealthy earlier in life requires more NHS intervention, more social care, and more support from local authorities many of which are already facing financial crisis.
The economic consequences are equally significant: lower healthy life expectancy reduces workforce participation, increases sickness absence, and limits productivity, especially in regions already struggling with economic decline.
Healthy life expectancy is more than a health statistic; it is a measure of national resilience. It tells us not just how long people live, but how well they live. The latest figures show a UK where the burden of poor health is rising, where inequalities are deepening, and where the gap between the healthiest and least healthy communities is widening at an alarming rate.
For Scotland, the challenge is even more acute, with some communities experiencing levels of poor health that cut more than a decade off the years they can expect to live well.
This is not simply a public‑health issue. It is a social, economic, and political one and it will shape the future of public services, local government, and national policy for years to come.
Read the full ONS report HERE