PERIOD
Today's rates, held still
Using death rates in 2022 to 2024, UK life expectancy at birth was 83.0 years for females and 79.1 for males. ONS says this is not a true estimate of how long someone will live.
Compare the figuresWHAT THE FIGURES SAY
Two numbers,
one lifetime.
Life expectancy is a measure, not a promise.
83.0 · 79.1 years at birth, UK
16,600 People aged 100 or over in the UK, 2024
- Period looks at today
- Cohort looks ahead
- Place makes a gap
- Averages, not forecasts for you
The headline figure uses today's death rates. A second figure allows for the improvements expected over a lifetime, and comes out years higher. The Office for National Statistics publishes both, and they answer different questions.
THE SHORT ANSWER
It depends which
question you ask.
The same statistics office publishes
two kinds of life expectancy.
COHORT
Allowing for improvement
Cohort figures assume death rates keep improving. On that basis, girls born in 2023 can expect 90.0 years and boys 86.7 on average.
See the numbers
PLACE
Where you live matters
All 10 local areas with the highest life expectancy were in the south of England. For males it ranged from 73.7 years in Blackpool to 83.7 in Hart.
The local gapGeneral information only, not medical advice. For advice about your own health, speak to a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified health professional.
A QUICK FIGURE CHECK
Which number
answers your question?
Pick a question to see the matching ONS figure for the UK. The bar shows how much the figure allows for future improvements in death rates.
Averages for everyone of that sex and age. They do not take account of anyone's own health or lifestyle and are not a forecast for any one person.
FOUR THINGS TO CHECK
Read a headline
like a statistician.
Life expectancy figures turn up in news stories, pension debates and local reports. A few questions help you see what a number really says.
Period or cohort?
Period figures use one set of years' death rates. Cohort figures add projected improvements, so they come out higher.
At birth or at an age?
Life expectancy at 65 counts extra years from 65 onwards. It is not the same as an age at death.
Which place?
National figures hide big local gaps. ONS publishes separate figures for countries, regions and local areas.
Which years?
National life tables average three years of deaths to smooth out events such as flu seasons. Single-year figures jump about more.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
More of us
reach great ages.
One figure on the very old,
one on the gap between men and women.
16,600
People aged 100 or over in the UK, 2024
ONS says the number of centenarians doubled between 2004 and 2024, and people aged 90 and over rose 53.7% to 625,000.
CENTENARIANS · ONS
3.9 years
Female minus male life expectancy at birth
The gap fell from 6.0 years in 1980 to 1982 to 3.7 years in 2012 to 2014, then widened slightly to 3.9 years in 2022 to 2024.
THE GAP · ONS
ONS says UK life expectancy has stayed virtually unchanged for the last 10 years after decades of increases, and that the pandemic pushed period figures down in 2020 to 2022 before they began to recover.
THE LOCAL GAP
Same country,
different averages.
In England in 2022 to 2024, male life expectancy at birth was 3.0 years higher in the South East than in the North East, and female life expectancy 3.0 years higher in London than in the North East.
Across the four countries it ran from 83.3 years for females and 79.4 for males in England to 81.1 and 77.1 in Scotland. The lowest local figure in Scotland was in Glasgow City, at 74.3 years for males and 78.7 for females.
Questions
Questions people ask
What is life expectancy in the UK?
For 2022 to 2024, period life expectancy at birth was 83.0 years for females and 79.1 years for males, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Why do I see higher figures like 90?
Those are cohort figures. They allow for death rates continuing to improve, so ONS projects that girls born in 2023 will live to 90.0 on average and boys to 86.7.
Does life expectancy at 65 mean dying at 65 plus that number?
Not exactly. It is the average number of further years people aged 65 would live at current death rates: 21.2 for women and 18.7 for men in 2022 to 2024. Some people live much less and others much more.
Has life expectancy stopped rising?
ONS says UK life expectancy has been virtually unchanged for the last 10 years after decades of increases. Figures dipped during the pandemic and have been returning towards 2017 to 2019 levels.
Can I work out my own life expectancy?
ONS offers a calculator giving average cohort life expectancy by age and sex. It says the figure does not consider factors such as lifestyle or health conditions, so it is an average, not a personal prediction.
Where the facts come from
Updated