New data from the ONS released this week shows that in 2021 to 2023, life expectancy at birth in England and Wales was 79 years for males and 83 years for females.
This is 26 weeks lower for males and 13 weeks lower for females than it was for the 2017 to 2019 period before the pandemic. This is also the period during which life expectancy at birth in England and Wales reached its highest level (83.4 for women and 79.8 for men) before starting to decline.
The current values for life expectancy at birth are up by 13 weeks for males and 11 weeks for females compared with 2020-22, although this period encompassed the pandemic when mortality rates were unusually high. In contrast, the new 2021-23 life expectancy data incorporates mortality rates from the tail-end of the pandemic.
The data also shows significant regional variation with life expectancy at birth in 2021 to 2023 standing at 79.1 years for males and 83.0 years for females in England and 78.1 years for males and 82.0 years for females in Wales.
Life expectancy at 65 years is 18.6 years for males and 21.1 years for females in England and Wales in the latest data - below pre-pandemic levels of 18.8 years for males and 21.2 years for females.