If the rise of precautionary full-body scans, experimental anti-aging treatments and trendy supplements tells us anything, it¡¯s that we¡¯re obsessed with living as long as possible. And on that front, there¡¯s good news here in the U.K.: Total life expectancy has essentially recovered to pre-pandemic levels, which were the highest on record.
But what¡¯s the point if more of those years are spent in poor health?
Britain¡¯s healthy life expectancy ¡ª a metric that tells us how long a baby born today can expect to enjoy good health ¡ª has taken a nosedive; it¡¯s now at its lowest level since the government started measuring it in 2011-2013. (The stat is tracked in three-year increments ¡ª more on that later.) The current healthy life expectancy in the U.K. is 60.9 years for women and 60.7 years for men. Compared with 2019-2021, that represents a decrease of 2.5 years and 1.8 years, respectively.
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