Life Expectancy
8.13 Life expectancy at birth provides an overall measure of the health of a population. The Department of Health's (DH) Compendium of Clinical Indicators for 2002/04 show that the South West has the highest life expectancy of all the English regions for both women (82 years) and men (77.8 years). The comparable figures for England are 80.9 years for women and 76.6 years for men. There is, however, some within-region variation. The men in Gloucester (75.7 years), City of Bristol (75.8 years) and Plymouth (75.9 years) have a lower life expectancy than in England as a whole. The women in Swindon (80.3 years), Penwith (80.5 years), City of Bristol (80.6 years), Gloucester (80.7 years) and in Plymouth (80.7 years) have a lower life expectancy than in England as a whole. East Dorset has the highest life expectancies for men (80.8 years) and women (83.9 years).
8.14 In line with national trends, life expectancy has improved in the South West over the last 20 years and the gap between men and women has narrowed. However, in England and Wales those employed in professional occupations have seen a greater improvement in life expectancy than those employed in manual occupations; between 1972 and 1999 the life expectancy of a professional male increased by 6.5 years compared to 4.6 years for a male unskilled manual worker (ONS).