Life expectancy growth slows in Northern Ireland, report says

Life expectancy growth has slowed for people living in Northern Ireland over the past decade, according to new figures.

A Department of Health report also said that women in the region are living on average almost four years longer than men.

The “Life Expectancy in Northern Ireland 2022-24” report explores the extent to which mortality within certain age groups and causes of death contribute to the observed variations in life expectancy.

It found that in 2022-24, life expectancy in Northern Ireland was 78.8 years for males and 82.6 years for females.

The report said that since 1980-82, life expectancy at birth has increased by 7.1 years for females and 9.6 years for males.

However, it said that over the last 10 years, life expectancy growth has slowed for men, while the slowdown in female life expectancy has been evident over the last 12 years.

Male life expectancy was highest in the Lisburn and Castlereagh area (80.5 years) and lowest in the Belfast area (76.5 years).

For females, life expectancy was highest in the Lisburn and Castlereagh and Fermanagh and Omagh areas (both 83.8 years) and lowest in Belfast (80.5 years).

The report said that while life expectancy at birth has increased by 0.1 years for males and 0.2 years for females since 2018-20, the changes were not statistically significant.

Addressing the life expectancy gap between men and women, the report said male mortality was higher than female across all age groups, but highest within the 70-79 years age group, which contributed 0.8 years to the gap.

It said that higher male mortality from the combination of circulatory disease (1.1 years), cancer (excluding breast) (1.1 years), and accidental deaths (0.6 years) accounted for 2.8 years of the gap.

The report found that males living in the 20% most deprived areas of Northern Ireland could expect to live 74.6 years, 7.2 years less than those living in the 20% least deprived areas (81.8 years).

It also said that healthy life expectancy had decreased for both men and women over the last five years, but that the change for males was not statistically significant.