Twenty-five of London’s 32 boroughs now have a life expectancy below the state pension age of 66, meaning roughly three-quarters of the capital’s local authorities fall short of the threshold at which people can claim their state pension. The finding, published by the Health Foundation and based on Office for National Statistics data comparing 2012–2014 with 2022–2024, underscores a broader national decline in healthy life expectancy that analysts describe as a “watershed moment”.
Life expectancy across London has slipped over the past 14 years, reflecting a wider trend that has left the United Kingdom as one of only five of the 21 richest countries where healthy life expectancy has fallen – and the second steepest drop overall, behind only the United States. Between the two periods studied, healthy life expectancy in the UK dropped from 62.9 years for men and 63.7 years for women to just under 61 years for both sexes. This means people are now spending fewer years in good health before reaching retirement age, a shift that carries significant economic consequences, the Health Foundation warns.
Borough variations: from Richmond to Greenwich
While some boroughs – including Croydon, Sutton and Newham – have recorded modest improvements, they are outnumbered by areas where life expectancy has fallen. For women, the picture varies across the capital, but for men most boroughs have seen a decline.
At the top of the table, Richmond upon Thames records the highest life expectancy, at 70.3 years for women and 69.3 for men. Sutton (68.7 women, 68.3 men) and Bromley (67.7 women, 67.5 men) also rank among the highest. Looking at overall life expectancy – which includes years lived in both good and poor health – Kensington and Chelsea had the highest figure for women at 86.5 years (2021–2023 data), while Richmond upon Thames led for men at 82.5 years. Westminster and Camden also show overall life expectancies of around 85 years.
At the opposite end, Greenwich has the lowest female life expectancy at 57.5 years, while Haringey has the lowest male life expectancy at 58.3. Lewisham (58.1 women, 58.3 men) and Hackney (58.9 women, 59.3 men) also rank among the lowest. When measured by overall life expectancy, Barking and Dagenham records the lowest for both sexes – 77.3 years for men and 81.0 for women (2021–2023 data). Tower Hamlets had the lowest life expectancy in London back in 2018 and also the highest rate of heart disease.
Healthy life expectancy – the number of years a person can expect to live in good health – mirrors these extremes. Richmond upon Thames again leads, with women at 70.2 years and men at 69.5 (2021–2023). Nationally, Richmond had the highest healthy life expectancy for both males (69.3) and females (70.3) in 2022–2024. By contrast, Lewisham has the lowest healthy life expectancy in London – 57.0 for women and 57.8 for men – and also saw the greatest fall, a drop of eight years over the study period.
The disparities within London are stark. A woman born in Richmond, an area with below-average poverty, can expect to live in good health to the age of 70, which is 11 years longer than a woman in Tower Hamlets, where poverty is above average. Across England, the gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas stands at roughly 19.4 years for males and 20.3 years for females.
Although London was the only region in Great Britain to depart from the overall trend – with 15 of its 32 boroughs seeing improvements between 2012–2014 and 2022–2024 – more recent data shows that healthy life expectancy for both males and females in the capital experienced a slight decrease between 2020–2022 and 2022–2024.
What is driving the decline?
The Health Foundation points to a combination of factors behind the worsening figures, describing the situation as a watershed moment that demands urgent attention. Poverty is highlighted as a primary driver: areas with higher levels of deprivation consistently report lower healthy life expectancy. Poor housing – cold, damp and overcrowded conditions – is strongly linked to respiratory problems, chronic illnesses and poor mental health, all of which shorten healthy lifespan.
Obesity is another significant contributor. Moderate obesity can reduce life expectancy by about three years, while severe obesity can cut it by up to ten years. The research briefing notes that poor diet, smoking and alcohol consumption remain major risk factors for death and disability in the UK.
The long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has also taken a toll. The virus caused a sharp fall in life expectancy in 2020, and while overall life expectancy has since recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the effect on healthy life expectancy is still being assessed. The pandemic accelerated the reduction in healthy life expectancy globally, and in the UK the rise in long-term sickness – potentially exacerbated by Long Covid – is contributing to the decline.
Mental health issues are also cited as a factor. The rising prevalence of mental illness in the UK is thought to have played a part in the country’s deteriorating health outcomes over the past decade.
The state pension age, currently 66, is set to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028, and to 68 between 2044 and 2046. With 25 of London’s 32 boroughs already below the existing threshold, the Health Foundation’s analysis suggests that without action the gap between when people can expect to live in good health and when they can draw their pension will continue to widen. The economic cost of this lost healthy time – in terms of productivity, healthcare spending and benefits – is already significant, the organisation warns.
The Mayor of London has introduced a range of measures aimed at tackling health inequalities, including banning unhealthy food advertising on the Transport for London network, introducing the London Living Wage and building more affordable housing. However, experts argue that more comprehensive action is needed to reverse the decline in healthy life expectancy both in the capital and across the country.
