Independent and Healthy Lives

Version 4, September 2008

Female Life expectancy

The Government's target is by 2010 to reduce by at least 10% the gap between the fifth of local authorities with the lowest life expectancy at birth and the population as a whole.

South Tyneside is amongst the fifth of local authorities with the lowest female life expectancy at birth (rank 330 out of 374). The latest figures show that female life expectancy in South Tyneside is 80.1 years, compared to the English average of 81.55 years - a gap of 1.45 years.

Since the Government’s target was set, the gap in life expectancy between South Tyneside and the national average has decreased from 1.6 years to 1.45 years (9.3% decrease).

Care should be taken in interpreting life expectancy statistics for local authorities, as these can be subject to substantial year-on-year fluctuations. However, the trend suggests that female life expectancy is increasing faster in South Tyneside than in England generally.

Trends in Female Life Expectancy* at birth
1991 - 1993 1992 - 1994 1993 - 1995 1994 - 1996 1995 - 1997 1996 - 1998 1997 - 1999
England 79.1 79.4 79.4 79.6 79.7 79.8 80.0
North East 77.4 77.8 78.0 78.3 78.4 78.4 78.5
Gateshead 77.3 77.6 77.6 78.0 77.9 77.8 77.9
Newcastle upon Tyne 77.5 77.7 77.8 78.0 78.1 78.0 78.4
North Tyneside 77.8 78.2 78.4 79.0 78.7 78.8 79.1
South Tyneside 77.5 77.7 78.3 78.9 78.8 78.5 78.4
Sunderland 76.9 77.2 77.4 77.7 78.0 78.0 77.9
Difference between South Tyneside and England (years) -1.6 -1.7 -1.1 -0.7 -0.9 -1.3 -1.6
Trends in Female Life Expectancy* at birth
1998 - 2000 1999 - 2001 2000 - 2002 2001 - 2003 2002 - 2004 2003 - 2005 2004 - 2006
England 80.2 80.4 80.7 80.7 80.9 81.1 81.55
North East 78.7 79.1 79.3 79.5 79.6 79.8 81.48
Gateshead 78.1 78.4 78.8 79.2 79.4 79.5 79.9
Newcastle upon Tyne 78.6 79.4 79.4 79.6 79.8 80.2 80.3
North Tyneside 79.2 79.5 79.5 79.9 79.9 80.4 80.6
South Tyneside 78.6 79.5 79.5 79.8 79.4 79.9 80.1
Sunderland 77.9 78.2 78.7 78.9 79.0 79.4 79.8
Difference between South Tyneside and England (years) -1.6 -0.9 -1.2 -0.9 -1.5 -1.2 1.45
* Life expectancy can be interpreted as the number of years a baby born in a particular area in a particular time period could be expected to live if it experienced the mortality rates in that area and time period throughout its life. Source: The National Centre for Health Outcomes Development website

Trends in Female Life expectancy

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