Life expectancy figures for Scotland have shown a rise amongst both men and women- but figures remain below pre-Covid levels and are still the lowest across western Europe.
According to National Records of Scotland (NRS) data, females born between 2021 and 2023 now have an expected lifespan of 80.9 years, while the expectation for males born in the same period stands at 76.9 years.
This marks an increase of almost seven weeks for females and 14 weeks for males compared with numbers from 2020-22.
Despite these improvements, the life expectancy is not yet back to its previous levels from 2017-19, which were 81.1 years for females and 77.1 for males, the NRS reports suggest that the Covid pandemic has severely affected these statistics.
Phillipa Haxton, an NRS statistician, said: “Life expectancy in Scotland peaked in 2012-2014 and plateaued until 2017-2019. Thereafter there was a fall.”
She emphasised, “Today’s figures are still below the peak of 10 to 12 years ago.”
It was also revealed that male life expectancy in Scotland’s most deprived regions is 13.2 years less compared to more affluent areas. For females, this disparity stands at 10.5 years.
Glasgow City Council holds the record for the lowest life expectancy rates for both sexes in the 2021 to 2023 interval with 78.3 years for women and 73.6 years for men.
Contrasting this, East Renfrewshire Council areas enjoy Scotland’s highest life expectancy, expecting 84.5 years for women and 81 years for men.
The NRS report highlighted concerning statistics regarding life expectancy in Scotland when compared to the rest of the UK: “Scotland had the lowest life expectancy of all UK countries for both females and males in 2020-2022.”
It further detailed, “In 2021-2023, life expectancy in Scotland was over two years lower compared to England for both females and males.”
Additionally, “The difference compared to Wales was lower although still over a year.”
The figures released showed that men in Scotland had a life expectancy of 76.9 years, falling short of the 78.1 years in Wales and 78.8 years in England. Scottish women lived to an average of 80.9 years, whereas their counterparts in Wales reached 82 years and those in England to 83 years.
Furthermore, the NRS pointed out a wider context: “Scotland has the lowest life expectancy of all western European countries”. In contrast, Spain boasted the highest life expectancy for women in 2022, and Sweden topped the chart for men.
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