Health benefits of walking and cycling: preventable early deaths
About 2 mins
Key points
- Almost 1,550 early deaths per year could be prevented if activity levels for walking and cycling were to match the most active regions in England.
- Overall, people in the South West do the most walking and cycling at 1.07 miles per person per day on average. People in the West Midlands did the least – 0.56 miles per person per day on average.
- People in London cycle the furthest per day at 0.3 miles on average. The shortest distance cycled is in the West Midlands with less than 0.1 miles per person per day.
Increasing physical activity and minimising the time spent sitting down helps to maintain a healthy weight and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and depression. The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend that adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, each week.
These charts show the differences in walking and cycling activity between the regions of England and the estimated number of early deaths that could be prevented by increasing walking and cycling:
- An estimated 1,546 early deaths could be prevented each year if average walking and cycling distances in all regions met the average for the most active region in England.
- In 2023 in England overall, people cycled an average of 0.19 miles per person per day. Londoners cycled almost twice that at 0.35 miles, and people in the West Midlands cycled less than half at 0.05 miles per person per day.
- Walking distances were higher at an overall average of 0.69 miles per person per day. People in Yorkshire and the Humber covered the most ground (0.79 miles) and people in the West Midlands covered the shortest distance on average at 0.5 miles per person per day.
- Taken together, people in the South West did the most walking and cycling at 1.01 miles per person per day on average. People in the West Midlands did the least walking and cycling at 0.56 miles per person per day on average.
If a person were to walk and cycle the same distance as the averages for people in England, that would mean approximately 97 minutes per week walking and 9 minutes cycling – 106 minutes of exercise in total – some way off the UK Chief Medical Officers’ recommendation of 150 minutes.
- The data presented here are weighted estimates from the National Travel Survey, a household survey of personal travel of residents of England. Estimates at the regional level should be treated with caution.
- These estimates are input into and the World Health Organization’s health economic assessment tool (HEAT), which calculates the reduction in mortality as a result of physical activity from regular walking and cycling.
- Walking and cycling distances have been estimated using different age ranges, in alignment with the HEAT tool. Walking range is between 20 and 74 years, whereas cycling is for 20 to 64-year-olds. The HEAT estimates were produced against the regional populations sourced from ONS mid-year population estimates 2024.
- Average cycling speed is assumed to be 9mph, and walking speed 3mph.
Source: Department for Transport, National Travel Survey, England 2024; WHO Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for cycling and walking; ONS, Mid-year population estimates, England 2024
