Britain’s stark life expectancy divide was today laid bare in an interactive map revealing how lifespan varies depending on where you live.
Figures show how children born in deprived parts of England, Scotland and Wales could die up to 13 years before youngsters in more affluent districts.
Girls born in Kensington and Chelsea between 2021-2023 are expected to live until they are 86, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Longevity for boys is in highest Hart, Hampshire, where they are expected to reach 83.
But at the other end of the scale, boys in Blackpool are predicted to reach only their 73rd birthday, while girls in Glasgow are only expected to live until 78.
The ONS data also shows average life expectancy across the three nations remained lower than it was pre-pandemic.
Slough saw the biggest drop among boys, with Na h-Eileanan Siar in the Outer Hebrides taking the title among girls.
Statisticians suggested Covid could be behind the trend of falling lifespan.
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The data also covers the period in which Britain was plunged into a cost of living crisis, which experts have warned increases the risk of malnourishment due to high food and energy prices.
The estimates are based on period life expectancy, a hypothetical measure that assumes the mortality rate between 2020 to 2022 applies throughout a person’s life.
Calculating male and female rates separately, it uses the death registrations in the period from 2021 to 2023 for each age group, the probability of death and numbers of people surviving in each group.
According to the analysts, boys and girls born in England are expected to live the longest, at 79.11 for men and 83.05 among women.
Across the three nations, Scotland ranked lowest with 76.79 years for men and 80.77 years with women.
The figures stood at 78.04 and 81.98, respectively, in Wales.
The ONS noted that children born in 2021 to 2023 will not necessarily live a shorter life than those born in the years earlier. If mortality rates improve, then life expectancy will increase, it added.
By local authority, a boy born in Hart can expect to reach his 83rd birthday (83.33), the longest male life expectancy recorded.
Girls born in Kensington and Chelsea (pictured) between 2021-2023 are expected to live until they are 86, according to the Office for National Statistics
Girls in Glasgow (pictured), however are only expected to live until 78
Meanwhile, one born in Blackpool will likely only live to 73 (73.14), a gap of more than a decade.
Uttlesford in Essex came in second at 82.96, with Wokingham in third at 82.54.
Meanwhile, a girl born in Kensington and Chelsea should get to 86 (86.46), yet their peers in Glasgow will likely only live until 78.26, a gap of just over eight years.
Stark divides remain between the north and south. All ten local authorities with the highest life expectancy fell in the south of England among both men and women.
Among those with the lowest male life expectancy, six were in Scotland, three were in the north of England, with one in Wales.
Seven out of ten areas with the lowest female life expectancy were in Scotland, meanwhile.
Blackpool and Knowsley in the north of England and Blaenau Gwent in Wales, completed the ten.
Statisticians blamed the drop in life expectancy, compared to before the pandemic, on Covid and the rise in mortality seen in 2020 and 2021.
By local authority, a boy born in Hart can expect to reach his 83rd birthday. Pictured, Hartley in Hart
But at the other end of the scale, boys in Blackpool (pictured) are predicted to reach only their 73rd birthday
Covid is thought to have widened inequalities even further.
Experts fear the pandemic has exacerbated issues around health inequality, with some attributing it to health cuts and austerity.
The data also covers the period in which Britain was plunged into a cost of living crisis.
Researchers have warned this sees those in poorer households forced to choose between heating and eating and manage the stress of debt — all of which can worsen health in the long run.
Earlier this year, research suggested life expectancy across the world will rise by almost five years by 2050, with the average man forecasted to live to 76 and woman, past 80.
Global average life expectancy is forecast to increase to around 78.1 years of age in 2050, a rise of 4.5 years, The Lancet Public Health study also found.
At the time, experts said the trend was largely driven by public health measures both preventing and improving survival rates from illnesses including cardiovascular disease, nutritional diseases and maternal and neonatal infections.
Commentators also said the figures present an ‘immense opportunity’ to ‘get ahead of rising metabolic and dietary risk factors’ such as high blood pressure and BMI.
At the age of 115, Ethel Caterham, from Surrey, is the oldest living person in the UK following the death of 112-year-old Mollie Walker on 22 January 2022
The oldest living person in the world is now Japan ‘s Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908, and is 116 years old
The oldest living person in the world is now Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908, and is 116 years old.
At the age of 115, Ethel Caterham, from Surrey, is the oldest living person in the UK following the death of 112-year-old Mollie Walker on 22 January 2022.
The title of the oldest person to have ever lived belongs to French woman Jeanne Louise Calment whose life spanned 122 years and 164 days.
Ms Caterham, who died in 1997, attributed her longevity to ‘never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like’.
Experts who have studied centenarians agree.
Physical activity, faith, love, companionship, and a sense of purpose make up the backbone of so-called ‘Blue Zones,’ or areas of the world where people typically live to 100 and beyond.
Maintaining an active lifestyle, even simply walking around town every day, has been shown to improve longevity.
Companionship has been shown to have a similarly positive effect on a person’s lifespan, with studies consistently showing loneliness is toxic.
