Healthy life expectancy drops in every part of Yorkshire over last decade - best and worst areas revealed

Everything from poverty, poor housing and factors such as obesity, as well as the Covid pandemic, contributed to this, the Health Foundation said.

The charity analysed Office for National Statistics figures to calculate HLE for men and women from 2012 to 2014, and then compared this with 2022 to 2024.

It found that in every part of the country, apart from London, HLE dropped during that period, and this included every part of Yorkshire.

The report revealed that during the decade the deep inequalities between affluent and deprived areas actually widened.

And across the whole of the region, men and women are spending less of their life in good health.

Wakefield saw the biggest drop, with HLE in men down from 59.3 years to 54 and amongst women from 59.8 to 53.8.

York had the second biggest reduction, from 65.2 years for men down to 60.8 and from 66 to 61.4 years for women.

Hull had the lowest HLE in both periods, with North Yorkshire the highest. Leeds had the lowest reduction, which was only a few months for both men and women.

Overall life expectancy stayed at a fairly consistent level during that time. The period included the coalition government’s austerity policies and also Boris Johnson’s attempts at levelling up the North with the South.

Andrew Mooney, the Health Foundation’s principal data analyst, said: "The UK has the highest levels of obesity in western Europe and there has been a surge in mental ill health, especially among young people."

He explained that this had created "a significant economic cost, with poor health driving people out of the workforce and locking young people out of education, employment and training".

York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith has made improving residents’ health, through everything from sport to active travel, was of his top priorities.

He told The Yorkshire Post that the figures were “shocking but not surprising”.

“If you look at the same period of 10-years it chimes heavily with austerity and lack of funding into frontline core services and lack of building of affordable homes,” he said.

“All this lends itself to people not lending a fuller quality of life.”

Mr Skaith said the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was focusing on “prevention”, whether that means affordable homes or funding sport and active travel.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that the 10-year health plan was developed to tackle the “childhood obesity crisis”.

A spokesperson said: “It’s a disgrace that as a nation we became unhealthier with a lower life expectancy over the last decade which is why we are committed to tackling health inequalities and building a healthier Britain.

“The government is already delivering radical measures such as a generational ban on smoking and clamping down on junk food advertising targeted at kids to help parents raise the healthiest generation of children ever.

“Alongside this, the government is reinvesting around £2.2bn into poorer communities for medicines, technology and equipment so the people that need it most receive the support and care they need. We’re also reviewing how GP funding is distributed so those in deprived areas receive a fairer share of funding.

“We know there is much more to do, but by building an NHS fit for the future we will help people live well for longer, whatever their background.”