Blackpool now has the lowest male life expectancy in Britain – replacing Glasgow for the first time since records began.
A boy born in the Lancashire coastal resort between 2021 and 2023 will live for an average of 73.1 years – compared to 73.6 years in Glasgow.
The 10 areas with the lowest male life expectancy in the country are spread between Scotland (Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, Dundee North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, and East Ayrshire), the north of England (Blackpool, Manchester, and Hull), and Wales (Merthyr Tydfil).
By contrast, the top 10 areas are all in the south of England – with Hart in Hampshire highest at 83.4 years, Uttlesford in Essex at 83 years, and Wokingham in Berkshire and Richmond-upon-Thames both at 82.5 years.
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Glasgow has scored lowest for men since the data was first recorded.
There is a similar pattern for female life expectancy. The lowest in the country for a girl born in the same period is Glasgow at 78.3 years – followed by East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, and Blackpool at 78.6, 78.7, and 78.9 respectively.
The highest female life expectancy for 2021 to 2023 is Kensington & Chelsea in west London, which has an average of 86.5 years, followed by nearby Richmond-upon-Thames at 86.3 years, and Winchester, Hampshire, at 86.1 years.
No return to pre-pandemic levels
Overall life expectancies were lower for 2021 to 2023 than they were for 2017 to 2019, which the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) head of population health monitoring Greg Ceely says “suggests we are yet to see a recovery from the decrease in life expectancy we saw during the [COVID] pandemic”.
He adds: “Our results continue to show a clear geographical divide.
“For example, in England, male life expectancy in the South East is three years higher than in the North East, and female life expectancy 2.7 years higher in London compared to the North East.”
The figures for 2021 to 2023 reflect the worst of the pandemic – and while they do show a decrease from the pre-pandemic period – it does not mean that a baby born during that period will live a shorter life than those born between 2017 and 2019.
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Coastal towns like Blackpool have consistently shown lower average health outcomes than many of their inland neighbours.
Earlier this year, England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty called for a specific national strategy to address the figures.
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“Each individual coastal town has been seen as an individual problem,” he told Sky News.
“Of course, in one sense they are; Hastings is different to Blackpool is different to Skegness, for example, but all of them are probably more similar to one another than their nearest inland neighbour.
“What I think we need to do is see them as a group of mainly towns, some smaller cities and create a solution for them at a national level.
“This is a problem which is not going to solve itself… and because of an ageing population, the expectation is that if we do nothing, it will in fact get worse.”
