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North-South Health Divide Grows Starker
26 Jul
Summary
- England's life expectancy gap has widened over the past decade.
- Northern regions show little to no rise in lifespan compared to the south.
- Deprivation is linked to lower life expectancy and poorer health outcomes.
The gap in life expectancy between the north and south of England has grown considerably over the past decade. Provisional figures for 2025 show a national rise in average lifespans for men and women, but these improvements were overwhelmingly concentrated in southern regions. In contrast, the five northern regions of England experienced minimal or no increase in life expectancy during the same period.
This growing disparity is closely linked to higher levels of deprivation in the north. People in the most deprived 30% of areas saw their life expectancy fall or stagnate, while it increased in the least deprived areas. This trend suggests that national 'levelling up' initiatives have not yet translated into tangible health improvements for northern populations.
The government's 10-year plan aims to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy, but the King's Fund deems this goal unrealistic. Healthy life expectancy has fallen across all English regions, with individuals now spending an average of 2.5 years longer in poor health. The most deprived regions face a gap of up to 20 years in healthy lifespan compared to the least deprived.
