A new analysis by the Health Foundation thinktank reveals that people in the UK are spending fewer years in good health than a decade ago, prompting concern that the population's health is 'going backwards'. The sharp decline in Britain's healthy life expectancy—the amount of time someone lives free of illness or disability—contrasts with recent improvements in most other wealthy countries.
Key Findings
Healthy life expectancy for men in the UK fell from 62.9 years in 2012-14 to 60.7 years in 2022-24, and for women from 63.7 to 60.9 years over the same period. The proportion of life spent in good health dropped from 79% to 77% for men and from 77% to 73% for women, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The UK was one of only five countries among 21 comparable nations where healthy life expectancy declined, falling from 14th to 20th place, with only the United States ranking lower.
Root Causes
The thinktank attributes the loss of two years of illness-free life to high obesity rates—leading to more diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer—as well as deaths from alcohol, drugs, and suicide. Worsening self-reported health and deep inequalities between rich and poor are also key factors. Neither COVID-19 nor overall life expectancy, which remains stable, explain the decline.
'The UK's health is declining and falling behind most other comparable nations,' the report states. Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive of the Health Foundation, said: 'These findings reveal a stark truth—the UK's health is going backwards. The lights on the dashboard are flashing red. We are the most obese country in western Europe, mental ill health has surged to unprecedented levels, and more people than ever before are living with chronic health conditions.'
Economic and Social Impact
The decline helps explain why a record 2.8 million people are too sick to work, deaths are rising among 25- to 49-year-olds, and growing numbers of 16- to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment, or training due to physical or mental health conditions. The fall in healthy years carries a 'huge human and economic cost, with poor health driving people out of the workforce and locking young people out of education, employment and training, adding to the rising cost of welfare,' Dixon added.
Policy Recommendations
Governments have done too little to address the rising burden of preventable illness, Dixon said. She urged ministers to force food companies to make products healthier, introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol in England as Scotland has done, and tackle drug-related harm. The thinktank also highlighted stark geographic inequalities: healthy life expectancy is highest in wealthy Richmond upon Thames, London (69.3 years for men, 70.3 for women), but lowest in Blackpool (50.9 years for men) and Hartlepool (51.2 years for women).
Government Response
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) called the nation's worsening health 'a disgrace' and pointed to measures such as the tobacco and vapes bill and a ban on junk food advertising before 9pm on TV as evidence of a 'radical' approach. A spokesperson said: 'It is a disgrace that as a nation we became unhealthier over the last decade which is why we are committed to tackling health inequalities and building a healthier Britain. The government is already delivering radical measures such as a generational ban on smoking and clamping down on junk food advertising targeted at kids to help parents raise the healthiest generation of children ever. We know there is much more to do, but by building an NHS fit for the future, we will help people live well for longer, whatever their background.'
