People in East Dorset live nearly four years longer than the national average, ranking the area among a top ten of UK local authorities where people can expect to live a long life.
In recent analysis on life expectancy data by the South West Observatory, East Dorset came out top in the South West with men averaging 81.4 years and women 85.4 years. The current UK average for life expectancy is 77.9 for men and 82 years for women, with the England average slightly higher at 78.3 for men and 82.3 for women.
The South West in general performs well on this measure when compared with the national average: life expectancy, when averaged out, is 79.2 for men and 83.3 for women. Other areas where high life expectancy above 80 for both men and women is recorded include all other districts in Dorset, South Somerset, East Devon, Teignbridge, CheltenhamandCotswold in Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire.(For all figures, see the briefing).
Among its more urban areasin the South West, life expectancy is lowest in Plymouth (77.2, Men; 82.0, Women) and highest in Poole (79.4, Men; 83.5, Women). When compared to previous data from 2006-08, life expectancy for both men an women across the South West has either increased or remained constant for every County or Unitary Authority, apart from in Torbay, where there was a slight fall for both sexes (78, Men; 82, Women).
Nationally, life expectancy is highest in the South East (79.4, Men; 83.3, Women) and lowest in the North West (76.6, Men; 80.8; Women). The South West records the third highest life expectancy rates after the South East and East.
To access the full briefing by the South West Observatory, detailing life expectancy in your local area, see – http://tinyurl.com/sw-life-expectancy
