HEALTHY life expectancy in the UK has fallen by more than two years over the past decade, according to a new study, with more people experiencing health problems before retirement.
The study found the number of years people live in good health has declined, while the UK has fallen further behind comparable countries.
"The UK's health is deteriorating and slipping further behind comparable nations," said the study's co-author Andrew Mooney, principal data analyst with the Health Foundation.
Between 2012-2014 and 2022-2024, healthy life expectancy in the UK fell from 62.9 years for men and 63.7 years for women to just under 61 for both.
The report, released on Sunday, said healthy life expectancy measures the average number of years a person is expected to live in good health based on current mortality rates and levels of self-reported good health.
It said the figures were "a key measure of the population's health" and provide "a more comprehensive picture of the UK's health than life expectancy alone".
The study described the findings as a "watershed moment" as healthy life expectancy has fallen below the retirement age, which is 66 and due to rise to 67 later in 2026.
"These findings reinforce growing evidence about declining health in the UK, particularly among the working-age population," the study said.
"Of 21 high-income countries, the UK is one of only five that saw healthy life expectancy fall between 2011 and 2021, and had the second-steepest decline."
Mooney said "only the United States now has a lower healthy life expectancy than the UK".
The report also highlighted widening differences in healthy life expectancy between affluent and deprived areas.
The gap between the most and least deprived areas in England "is now 19.4 years for males and 20.3 years for females".
In Richmond, west London, healthy life expectancy for men is 69.3 years and for women 70.3 years.
In Blackpool, it falls to 50.9 years for men.
"Successive governments have failed to take the long-term action needed to address this, resulting in a growing economic and fiscal impact as well as a substantial human cost," the report said.
(With inputs from agencies)
