Life expectancy gap widens between north and south England

A new analysis reveals the life expectancy gap between northern and southern England has widened over the past decade, even as national longevity reached record highs last year. The findings, published by the health charity The King's Fund on July 26, 2026, show stark and growing regional inequalities in health outcomes.

While average life expectancy in England reached its highest recorded level in 2025, the gains were concentrated in London and southern regions. People in London now live, on average, three years longer than those in the North East. The half of England's population living in the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the East and West Midlands saw little or no improvement in life expectancy in the decade leading up to 2023-25. In contrast, London's life expectancy increased by nearly a year over that period, despite suffering the sharpest decline during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The disparities are even more pronounced when examining "healthy life expectancy," or the number of years spent in good health. Nationally, healthy life expectancy has fallen by about 2.5 years over the decade to 2022-24. The gap between the most and least deprived areas is...