Life expectancy at birth (UK)

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), series Period life expectancy at birth (ex at age 0), males and females, UK. Annual, usually in the autumn or December; the 2022 to 2024 tables were published on 10 December 2025 and the next release date was to be announced. Each table covers three consecutive years

What it measures

Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn would live if death rates at each age stayed as they were in the period measured. The ONS national life tables average three years of deaths and population estimates to smooth out year-to-year swings. This is period life expectancy: the ONS notes it is not a prediction of how long a baby born today will actually live, because death rates are expected to keep changing. Cohort life expectancy, which builds in projected improvements, is published separately and gives higher figures.

How to read it

Quote the sex, the nation and the three-year period: in 2022 to 2024 it was 79.1 years for UK males and 83.0 for females. Because the tables average three years, the 2020 to 2022 pandemic years held figures down for several releases. Life expectancy at 65 answers a different question (how long people who reach 65 live on average). For local areas, see local life expectancy. Healthy life expectancy, the years lived in good health, is a separate ONS series.

Background

The ONS UK national life tables series starts with 1980 to 1982. The ONS said life expectancy rose for decades, was virtually unchanged over the last ten years, fell during the pandemic and has been returning towards earlier levels. In 2022 to 2024 female life expectancy matched 2017 to 2019, while male life expectancy remained slightly lower. The gap between men and women narrowed from 6.0 years in 1980 to 1982 to 3.7 years in 2012 to 2014, then widened to 3.9 years. England had the highest figures of the four nations (79.4 for males, 83.3 for females) and Scotland the lowest (77.1 and 81.1).

Other parts of the UK

National Records of Scotland: life expectancy in Scotland, 2022 to 2024 · ONS: national life tables for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (same release)

What is the average life expectancy in the UK?

In the ONS national life tables for 2022 to 2024, life expectancy at birth in the UK was 79.1 years for males and 83.0 years for females. The figures were published on 10 December 2025. They are period estimates based on death rates in those three years.

Is life expectancy increasing in the UK?

The ONS reported increases of 21 weeks for males and 18 weeks for females between 2019 to 2021 and 2022 to 2024, as the effect of the pandemic faded. Over the longer run it described UK life expectancy as virtually unchanged over the last ten years, after sustained increases in earlier decades.

What is life expectancy for men and women in England?

For 2022 to 2024 the ONS gave 79.4 years for males and 83.3 years for females in England. Wales was 78.3 and 82.2, Northern Ireland 78.8 and 82.6, and Scotland 77.1 and 81.1. All four nations publish their figures in the same ONS release.

Does life expectancy mean how long I will live?

No. Period life expectancy shows how long people would live on average if current death rates never changed. The ONS points people to its life expectancy calculator and cohort tables, which include projected changes in mortality, for an estimate based on someone's current age and sex.

What is life expectancy at 65 in the UK?

In 2022 to 2024 a 65-year-old in the UK could expect to live a further 21.2 years for women and 18.7 years for men, on current death rates. Both rose by 17 and 21 weeks respectively compared with 2019 to 2021.

Related questions

• What is the life expectancy in the UK?
• How do I find life expectancy in my area?
• Is the UK population ageing?
• How many people die in the UK each year?

More on this source: UK deaths, life expectancy and public health statistics (ONS, OHID, UKHSA, NRS, NISRA)