People living in the United Kingdom will be spending fewer years in good health as “healthy life expectancy” plummets. The UK is going backward compared to most other “wealthy” countries.
Healthy life expectancy (HLE) in the UK has fallen by about 2 years, to just over 60 years for both men and women, making Britain one of only five wealthy nations where people live fewer years in good health, according to a new analysis by the Health Foundation charity.
This means that the amount of life a person spends in good health has decreased.
The findings, based on data from the Office for National Statistics between 2012–2014 and 2022–2024, show the measure dropped from 62.9 to 60.7 for men and from 63.7 to 60.9 for women, according to a report by The Guardian.
Andrew Mooney, the think‑tank’s principal data analyst, has warned of “a significant economic cost, with poor health driving people out of the workforce and locking young people out of education, employment and training.”
The Health Foundation has blamed the decline in HLE on a combination of poverty, poor housing, obesity, the lingering effects of the Covid‑19 pandemic, and a surge in mental health illnesses, especially among young people.
Hellbound and Down 