Scotland has just recorded its lowest healthy life expectancy on record. Men can now expect only 59.1 years in good health. Women fare little better at 59.4 years. People are living longer overall, but spending more of those extra years sick or disabled than at any point in modern history.
These stark numbers, released today by National Records of Scotland for 2022-2024, confirm what many families already feel: we are getting older, but not healthier.
The Numbers Tell a Brutal Story
Since 2014-2016, Scottish women have lost nearly four full years of healthy life. Men have lost three.
In just one decade, the average Scot has surrendered three to four years of feeling well.
Healthy life expectancy is calculated from census and survey data where people rate their own health as “very good” or “good”. It is the toughest measure we have of a nation’s true wellbeing.
Life expectancy itself has crept back up to near pre-pandemic levels (76.8 years for men, 80.9 years for women). But the gap between total years lived and years lived in good health has never been wider.
Where You Live Decides How Long You Stay Healthy
The postcode lottery in Scotland is now extreme.
Top performing areas (2022-2024):
- Orkney Islands: men 72.1 years, women 73.8 years
- East Renfrewshire: men 69.9 years, women 71.2 years
- East Dunbartonshire: men 68.8 years, women 70.5 years
Bottom performing areas:
- North Lanarkshire: men 55.3 years, women 55.9 years
- West Dunbartonshire: men 55.7 years, women 56.2 years
- Inverclyde: men 56.1 years, women 56.8 years
A boy born today in East Renfrewshire can expect almost 15 more healthy years than a boy born the same day in North Lanarkshire.
Deprivation Gap Now “Stark and Widening”
Phillipa Haxton, head of vital events statistics at NRS, used unusually strong language: “The gap between the most and least deprived communities is even more stark for this measure than it is for life expectancy itself.”
In Scotland’s richest 10% of areas:
- Men spend 83% of life in good health
- Women spend 81% of life in good health
In the poorest 10%:
- Men spend only 64% of life in good health
- Women spend only 59% of life in good health
That means a woman in Scotland’s most deprived communities now spends more than 40% of her life in poor health. Forty years ago that figure was unthinkable.
Why Is This Happening Now?
Public health experts point to several forces hitting at once.
The delayed effects of Covid are still being felt. Long Covid, mental health crisis, and disrupted screening programmes have all taken their toll.
But the roots go deeper. Austerity, stagnant wages, junk food environments, and crumbling preventative services have created perfect conditions for chronic disease.
Dr Jamie O’Halloran from IPPR Scotland warned today: “Most of what shapes our health lies outside the NHS. Until we tackle poverty, poor housing, and air quality, waiting lists are just treating symptoms of a much sicker society.”
Obesity rates in Scotland remain the worst in western Europe. Type 2 diabetes is rising fastest among the under-40s. Alcohol-specific deaths hit record highs again last year.
A Wake-Up Call Scotland Cannot Ignore
These are not just statistics. They are parents who cannot play with their grandchildren without pain. Workers forced out of jobs by long-term sickness. Families watching loved ones fade years earlier than their parents did.
Scotland once led the world in improving life expectancy in the late 20th century. Today we are sliding backwards faster than almost any comparable nation.
The Scottish Government has promised a new public health strategy next year. Ministers know the current path is unsustainable: NHS waiting lists will keep growing, disability benefits will keep rising, and the economy will keep losing working years.
The message from today’s figures is painfully clear. Living longer means nothing if those extra years are spent in pain, isolation, or dependence.
Scotland, we have to change course. And we have to start now.
What do these numbers mean for your family? Are you seeing more illness around you than ten years ago? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
