Map of healthy life expectancy at birth

There is an average gap in healthy life expectancy of 22 years between local authorities

Healthy life expectancy – a summary metric reflecting mortality rates and self-reported health in a given place and time – is commonly used as an indicator of the health of a country as a whole and to highlight inequalities across different areas within a country. 

This map shows healthy life expectancy for women and men at birth for each upper-tier local authority in the UK in 2018–20. 

• The local authority with the highest female healthy life expectancy at birth is the Orkney Islands (77.5 years), followed by Wokingham (71.2 years), and Windsor and Maidenhead (70.3 years).  
• The local authority with the highest male healthy life expectancy at birth is Rutland (74.7 years), followed by Orkney Islands (71.2 years) and Wokingham (70.9 years).  
• Generally, the areas with the highest life expectancy at birth tend to be in London, the south of England and mid-Wales.
• The local authority with the lowest female healthy life expectancy at birth is North Ayrshire (54.0 years), followed by Blackpool (54.3 years) and Stoke-on-Trent (55.1 years).  
• The local authority with the lowest male healthy life expectancy at birth is Blackpool (53.5 years), followed by Kingston upon Hull (53.8 years) and Inverclyde (54.4 years).  
• Healthy life expectancy is below 58 years in all of the 20 local authorities with the lowest female healthy life expectancy. Out of these 20, 5 local authorities are in Yorkshire and the Humber, 4 are in Wales and 3 are in Scotland.
• Healthy life expectancy is below 58 years in all of the 20 local authorities with the lowest male healthy life expectancy. Five of these local authorities are in Scotland, four are in Yorkshire and the Humber and three are in each of Wales, the North West and North East of England.
• In 34 local authorities (16% of all local authorities), healthy life expectancy for both men and women is below 60 years. Of these, eight are in Scotland, and six are in each of Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West and the North East of England. None are in London, the South East, the South West, the East of England or Northern Ireland.