Life Expectancy at Birth by Local Authority
1991-2006

Introduction

Figures on life expectancy at birth for males and females for local authorities in England and Wales (and Strategic Health Authorities in England) are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) . The figures are three-year rolling averages from 1991-93 to 2004-06, produced by aggregating deaths and population estimates for each successive overlapping three year period, so as to provide large enough numbers to ensure that the presented figures are sufficiently robust. Two local authorities, City of London and Isles of Scilly, are excluded from the results because of small numbers of deaths and populations in these areas. Lancashire district authority figures can be found in our Data Download Centre.

Life expectancy at birth for an area in each time period is an estimate of the average number of years a new born baby would survive if he or she experienced the particular area's age-specific mortality rates for that time period throughout his or her life. The figure reflects mortality among those living in the area in each time period, rather than mortality among those born in each area. It is not therefore the number of years a baby in the area in each time period could actually expect to live, both because the death rates of the area are likely to change in the future and because many of those born in the area will live elsewhere for at least some part of their lives.

Life expectancy at birth is also not a guide to the remaining expectancy of life at any given age. For example, if female life expectancy was 80 years for a particular area, life expectancy of women aged 75 years in that area would exceed 5 years. This reflects the fact that survival from a particular age depends only on the mortality rates beyond that age, whereas survival from birth is based on mortality rates at every age. This is amply reflected in the general ageing of the population at large. The proportion of people aged 85 and over in the UK has increased from 7% in 1971 to over 12% in 2005 and their numbers have grown by 85%.

The ageing of the population also means that there are more centenarians. According to new experimental estimates produced by ONS, there were 9,000 centenarians in England and Wales in 2006, numbers having increased 90-fold since 1911 when the estimated number was around 100. The main contributor to the increasing number of centenarians is increased survival between age 80 and 100 due to improved hygiene and sanitation, improving food, housing and living standards and medical treatments. There were proportionately more female than male centenarians in 2006 (seven women for every man). This ratio is now beginning to fall as survival to this age becomes more common and because recent improvements in death rates have been greater for males. If present trends continue, by about 2075 the population aged over 100 years could increase a further 100-fold to 1 million. The future is therefore not just old, it is extremely old.

At right: a Royal Court telegram sending congratulations to a centenarian

National Perspective

Life expectancy is a widely used indicator of the state of the nation's health. Large improvements in expectancy of life at birth have been seen over the past century for both males and females. In 1901 males born in the United Kingdom could expect to live to around 45 years of age and females to around 49. By 2004 male life expectancy at birth in England and Wales had risen to almost 77 years and for females to over 81 years. Such large gains in life expectancy have been due to numerous factors affecting mortality rates. These include rising living standards, improved lifestyle, better education and control over infectious diseases, as well as advances in access to care and the efficacy of medicine. Other factors, such as better nutrition, improved public health measures such as sanitation and housing have also played a role, though it is difficult to assess the relative contribution of the numerous non-medical and medical factors that might affect variations in life expectancy over time and across different areas. Higher national income per capita is generally associated with higher life expectancy at birth, although the relationship is less pronounced at higher levels of incomes.

Results for the latest period 2004-06 show a familiar geographical pattern, with inequalities in life expectancy continuing to persist across England and Wales. In broad terms, life expectancy remains lowest in the older industrial areas of the north and urban areas in general, and highest in rural areas and parts of the south. In terms of Government Office Regions, for males there was a difference of 2.7 years between the North West and North East, the regions with the lowest life expectancy (75.8 years) and the South West and South East, where life expectancy at 78.5 years was highest. The North East and South West were the regions with the lowest and highest female life expectancy (80.1 and 82.7 years respectively), although the difference between them, at 2.6 years, was only marginally less than for males.

Figures for the thirteen-year period from 1991-93 to 2004-06 reveal a continuing steady improvement in life expectancy at birth for both males and females in England and Wales (Table 1). For females the increase was 2.4 years whilst for males there was a more substantial increase of 3.6 years. This led to some narrowing of the gap between male and female life expectancy but the average male figure for 2004-06 still remains noticeably below the average for females by some 4.3 years (compared with a 5.5 year gap in 1991-93. Moreover, whilst the general picture nationwide is one in which life expectancy has increased, expectancy for those areas which do well has generally increased more than for those which do badly.

Lancashire Perspective

Whalley, Ribble Valley

A similar mixed pattern is evident at local district level in Lancashire. Just three local districts have male life expectancy rates above the England and Wales average (Fylde, Ribble Valley and South Ribble) whilst the same districts are above the national average for female life expectancy rates. All districts however recorded some improvement in expectancy rates over the period 1991-93 to 2004-06, for both males and females. In the case of males, five local districts saw life expectancy increase by 3.6 years or more - which was above the average for England and Wales. Most notable were increases of 4.1 years in Preston and 4.0 years in Burnley, both districts historically having rather low life expectancies in absolute terms. The least improvement by far was in Blackpool where male life expectancy over the period rose by only 1.7 years and in West Lancashire where the increase was 2.5 years.

For females, the increase in life expectancy was generally less rapid though a half of Lancashire districts exceeded the England and Wales average rate. Ribble Valley was especially noteworthy with a female life expectancy gain of 3.8 years followed by 3.2 years in South Ribble. The poorest out-turn was again in Blackpool which recorded an increase in female life expectancy of just 0.4 years whilst Hyndburn recorded only 1.8 years and Pendle 2.0 years. The net result of these changes over the period has been to generally extend life expectancy rates in all areas of the sub-region but also, to some degree, to widen the "gap" between the top and bottom ranked local authorities. Thus, in 1991-93 the life expectancy gap for males between the "healthiest" and "unhealthiest" Lancashire districts was 3.4 years; by 2004-06 this had widened to 4.9 years. In the case of females the difference had widened from 3.2 years to 4.1 years. However, more recent trends do suggest that with the main exception of Blackpool, most districts are now beginning to narrow this difference.

A broad picture of Lancashire districts' general standing on life expectancy figures is given in Table 2. This ranks the 2004-06 expectancy figures against the 374 local authority areas throughout England and Wales.

The authority with the highest life expectancy at birth for males in 2004-06 was Kensington & Chelsea (83.1 years). The same area also had the highest female life expectancy (87.2 years). At the other extreme, Manchester was the local authority with the lowest life expectancy at birth for males at 73.0 years (or 10.1 years less than Kensington & Chelsea). Manchester was also poorly ranked fourth worst in terms of female life expectancy but another North West authority, Liverpool, jointly occupied the poorest position (with Hartlepool) with just 78.3 years or 8.9 years less than Kensington & Chelsea.

Within Lancashire, just three local districts - Fylde, Ribble Valley and South Ribble - enjoyed male life expectancy at birth above the national average though only Fylde ranked within the top 50% of authorities in England and Wales. The poorest performing, Blackpool, was ranked as second from bottom behind Manchester whilst Blackburn with Darwen was ranked as joint 4th from bottom. A further five local districts recorded rankings of over 300 (i.e. within the bottom 20%), including Burnley, Hyndburn and Preston which were in the poorest 10%.

In some respects an even poorer pattern relative to England and Wales is evident in the case of female life expectancy figures. In 2004-06 only three authorities - Ribble Valley, South Ribble and Fylde had rates above the national average and only the first two were within the top 50% of authorities in England and Wales. Seven Lancashire local districts are placed in the bottom ranked 20% and no less than six of these are within the bottom 10% - Blackpool occupied the lowest position as the poorest performing district in Lancashire for female life expectancy but it was followed very closely by Burnley and Blackburn with Darwen within the poorest 5% rankings.

Analysis across a wide range of other key social and economic indicators such as those relating to wages and incomes, housing conditions and measures of deprivation reveal the significant problems that continue to face many areas within Lancashire. It is therefore not wholly surprising that such difficulties are also reflected in relatively low life expectancy figures for many districts. This point is further emphasised by the fact that such districts as Fylde, Ribble Valley and South Ribble, which are by various indicators considered to be amongst the most affluent areas in Lancashire, also recorded the highest male and female life expectancy figures in the county.

Further information on life expectancy at birth in Lancashire can be found in the related article Life Expectancy at Birth by Ward.

Life Expectancy at Age 65

In addition to the update of life expectancy at birth statistics, ONS have released for the first time a subset of local area data on life expectancy at age 65. Within England and Wales, men aged can expect to live a further 17.1 years and women a further 19.9 years if mortality rates remain the same as they were in 2004-06. The data reveals that life expectancy at aged 65 is continuing to rise for both men and women. Although women continue to live longer than men, the gap has been closing over recent years. In 1984-86 there was a difference of 4.0 years between male and female life expectancy at age 65 in England and Wales (13.4 years and 17.4 years respectively). In 2004-06 this had narrowed to 2.8 years. Rankings of life expectancy for males and females across Lancashire districts are shown in Table 3.

Additional information on life expectancy in Lancashire can be found in the Healthy and Disability-Free Years by District and Healthy and Disability-Free Years by Wards research monitors.

This page was compiled by Peter Kivell.

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