North–South life expectancy divide has widened over the past decade

Life expectancy has consistently been the lowest nationally for almost half of the population of England living in the North, with little or no improvement in the decade before 2023-25.

The North–South divide in life expectancy in England has widened over the past decade, new analysis shows.

The King’s Fund found life expectancy reached the highest levels ever recorded in 2025, but the gains are not represented equally across the country.

For example, there is a difference of three years between London and the North East, the health charity said, reflecting the greater levels of deprivation seen in northern regions.

The King’s Fund concluded that the Government’s aim to increase healthy life expectancy for everyone in England and halve the gap between the richest and poorest regions looks “unrealistic”.

It said achieving these aims would require improvements in population health on a scale not seen in recent decades.

Life expectancy has consistently been the lowest nationally for almost half of the population of England living in the North - including Yorkshire and The Humber - with little or no improvement in the decade before 2023-25.

In contrast, life expectancy increased in London and the South East, the South West and East of England regions, despite London experiencing the sharpest fall in life expectancy during the pandemic.

There were also stark figures when it came to how many years of life people spend in good health.

Overall, healthy life expectancy everywhere is on a downward trend, having fallen by about 2.5 years in the decade to 2022-24.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Someone’s postcode should never dictate how long they live, and this Government is determined to tackle the stark inequalities that still exist across Britain.

“We’re already taking action, from allocating GP funding more fairly to delivering pioneering Neighbourhood Health Centres in the areas that need them most.”

This comes as the Centre for Young Lives think tank’s State of the Nation report, published today, found that a generation of children continue to grow up in crisis, which is worsening for many.

Some 3.5m children in England are living in relative poverty, with two million in deep poverty.

At the same time, the number of youngsters in temporary accommodation has risen by a third since 2018.

The number of pupils missing more than half of school has continued to increase, and is now triple the level in 2017-18.

Unauthorised absences is a particular issue in Yorkshire and the Humber, with the region having the highest rate at the end of the latest school year.

Haroon Chowdry, chief executive at the Centre for Young Lives, said: “The uncomfortable truth is that the data in this report is simply not the sign of a country that genuinely values all children and puts their interests first.

“The devastating impact of growing up in deep poverty or without a secure home is a daily reality for millions of children. Levels of anxiety and poor mental health remain at crisis level, while too many children are still losing learning or falling out of education.

He added: “Despite some welcome action from the Government, much more needs to be done to support children, address vulnerability and disadvantage, and prevent any problems they face from reaching crisis level.

“We can’t have more of the same – an announcement here, an initiative there, and a couple of pilot programmes. Incremental change will not cut it anymore.

“We need a national ambition for tackling vulnerability among England’s children and young people.”