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‘Life expectancy gap at least a decade for baby boys in some parts of UK’

Infants under one in Glasgow City had the lowest life expectancy in the UK for 2018-20, according to the Office for National Statistics.

04 March 2022

Baby boys in some parts of the UK are expected to live at least a decade less than those in the areas with the highest life expectancy, figures show.

Infants under one in the Glasgow City area had the lowest life expectancy in the UK for 2018-20, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Life expectancy for babies was highest in the London boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea for girls, and Westminster for boys.

Baby boys in Glasgow City were expected to live 73.1 years – 11.6 fewer than those in Westminster, where life expectancy was 84.7 years.

In five other areas – Dundee City, Blackpool, West Dunbartonshire,  Inverclyde and North Lanarkshire – the life expectancy gap was more than 10 years.

The life expectancy gap between baby girls in Glasgow City (78.3 years) and Kensington & Chelsea (87.9 years) was 9.6 years.

The gaps between the areas with the lowest and highest life expectancy have widened since 2015-17, according to PA news agency analysis.

During that period, the gap for boys was 9.8 years, when comparing estimates for babies in Glasgow City and Kensington & Chelsea, where life expectancy was then highest.

The gap for girls was 7.8 years, when comparing estimates for babies in the Glasgow City and Camden in north London.

In England, the figures show that infants under one in the North East had the lowest life expectancy.

Baby boys in the North East were expected to live around three years less than those born in areas with the highest life expectancy.

A baby boy was expected to live 77.6 years, compared with 80.6 years for baby boys in the South West – a gap of around three years.

A baby girl was expected to live 81.5 years, compared with 84.3 years for baby girls in London – a difference of 2.8 years.

The gaps between the regions with the lowest and highest life expectancy have widened since 2015-17.

During that period, the gap for boys was 2.6 years, when comparing babies in the North East and South East.

The gap for girls was 2.7 years, when comparing babies in the North East and London.

Overall, a boy in the UK born between 2018 and 2020 is expected to live until he is 79.0 years old, down from 79.2 years for the period 2015-2017.

Estimates for females are broadly unchanged, with a baby girl born in 2018-20 likely to live for 82.9 years, the same as in 2015-17.

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