New data from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) reveals that people in Scotland are spending a larger portion of their lives in poor health compared to previous years.
The most recent figures for the 2022 to 2024 period indicate that healthy life expectancy stands at 59.1 years for men and 59.4 years for women.
Healthy life expectancy, defined as the number of years an individual can expect to live in good health, has been declining since the mid-2010s for both genders. In contrast, overall life expectancy has experienced a slight increase in recent years.
The NRS highlighted that individuals residing in some of Scotland's most deprived communities are more likely to live in poor health than those in the least deprived areas.
Since the 2014 to 2016 period, women have lost nearly four years of healthy life expectancy, while men have lost three years.
These figures are derived from a national survey where respondents rate their health as very good or good, as opposed to fair, bad, or very bad.
Does where I live matter?
The report also reveals significant geographical disparities in healthy life expectancy across Scotland.
North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire recorded lower than average healthy life expectancy for both men and women, whereas North Ayrshire was below average for men.
Conversely, Orkney Islands, East Renfrewshire, Perth and Kinross, Aberdeenshire, East Dunbartonshire, and the City of Edinburgh all reported higher than average healthy life expectancy.
Deprivation remains a critical factor influencing how long people live in good health.
Those living in the 10% most deprived communities spend considerably less time in good health and have a lower life expectancy compared to those in the least deprived areas.
Women in the most deprived areas spend approximately 60% of their lives in good health, while men spend about two-thirds in good health.
In contrast, men and women in the least deprived areas spend over 80% of their lives in good health.
The NRS noted that although life expectancy has not declined as sharply over the same period and has shown a slight increase recently, healthy life expectancy has not followed this trend.
"While life expectancy increased to around pre-pandemic levels for both females and males, healthy life expectancy has not increased.
This means people are likely to be spending a greater proportion of their life in poor health than in previous years.
The gap between the most and least deprived communities is even more stark for this measure than it is for life expectancy."
Phillipa Haxton, Head of Vital Events Statistics at NRS, provided these insights.
How does Scotland compare to the rest of the UK?
Additional data released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) compares Scotland's healthy life expectancy with other UK countries.
England has the highest healthy life expectancy at birth for both men and women among UK nations, while Scotland has the lowest for males and Wales the lowest for females.
Across the UK, healthy life expectancy at birth is 60.7 years (77% of life) for men and 60.9 years (73%) for women.
This represents a decline of 1.8 years for men and 2.5 years for women compared to the 2019 to 2021 period, marking the lowest levels since the series began in 2011 to 2013.
