1. Main Points
- Life expectancy at birth in Scotland was 81.06 years for females and 77.12 years for males in 2022-2024.
- It has increased by one quarter of a year (almost 14 weeks) for females and by one third of a year (almost 18 weeks) for males since 2021-2023.
- Life expectancy in Scotland increased steadily for decades. From 2012-14, life expectancy began stalling, and it fell during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life expectancy has risen again during the most recent two three-year periods, and it is now at a similar level to before the pandemic.
- Scotland continues to have the lowest life expectancy of other UK countries.
- In 2022-2024, life expectancy was highest in East Renfrewshire, and lowest in Glasgow City for both females and males.
- Female life expectancy in the most deprived areas of Scotland was 10.5 years lower than in the least deprived areas in 2022-2024.
- Male life expectancy in the most deprived areas of Scotland was 13.2 years lower than in the least deprived areas in 2022-2024.
- Life expectancy was highest in remote rural and accessible rural areas and, lowest in urban areas and remote small towns. The difference between the most rural and most urban areas was 2.6 years for females, and 2.9 years for males.
2. Key points and definitions
Changes to previously published estimates
Estimates presented in this report and accompanying tables back to 2009-2011, or to 2011 for single-year estimates, have been revised to reflect updated and re-based population data. This means that there are some small differences compared to previously published estimates, however overall trends have not been affected. Please see our methodology guide for more information on the data we use to produce estimates of life expectancy.
What is period life expectancy?
The estimates in this report are all period life expectancies. Period life expectancy is the average number of additional years a person would expect to live if they experienced the mortality rates by age of the given area and time period for the rest of their life. A more detailed explanation is available in our methodology document.
Why is life expectancy calculated for three-year periods?
Our headline estimates of life expectancy in Scotland are calculated over three-year periods, to provide large enough numbers to make these figures accurate and lessen the effect of very ‘good’ or ‘bad’ years. Estimates for Life Expectancy based on single calendar years are available in our downloadable tables to meet user demand for more detailed breakdowns, but these are not considered the definitive figures as they are more affected by annual fluctuations.
How and why are national and sub-national level figures calculated differently?
The national headline figures are calculated using full life tables (i.e. using single years of age, up to a maximum age group of 100+). These are the definitive estimates for life expectancy in Scotland.
Figures for areas within Scotland, such as council areas and NHS Health Boards, are calculated using abridged life tables (5-year age groups, starting from ‘under 1’ up to a maximum age group of ‘90+’). This is because death counts for smaller areas can be too sparse to produce reliable estimates for single years of age, and population estimates for smaller areas are also less robust than at Scotland-level. Estimates for ‘special areas’ are also calculated using these abridged tables, for the same reasons. More information about these methods is available in our methodology guide.
3. Life expectancy at birth
In Scotland, life expectancy at birth for 2022-2024 was 81.06 years for females, and 77.12 years for males. This is an increase of around a quarter of a year (almost 14 weeks) for females, and around a third of a year (almost 18 weeks) for males since 2021-2023.
Between the early 1980s and early 2010s, life expectancy was increasing in Scotland. In 2012-2014 life expectancy started to stall. It stayed at a similar level for several years, and then decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has increased again since then and is now at a similar level to before the pandemic.
NRS population projections for Scotland suggest that life expectancy will increase in the future, reaching 83.75 years for females and to 80.05 years for males in 2047. The projections are based on long term trends in population mortality data.
Figure 1: Life expectancy increased for both females and males in 2022-2024 to be similar to pre-pandemic levels
Life expectancy at birth, Scotland, estimates 1980-2024 and projections 2025-2047
Prior to 2012-2014, improvements to circulatory disease mortality were driving a lot of the improvements in life expectancy. After 2012-2014, these improvements started to slow. At the same time, other causes of death were increasing, especially drug related deaths and deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s. The combined effect of these led to the stall in life expectancy improvements.
Since 2017-2019, the period immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy for those aged under 1 had fallen by 3.4 weeks for females and 0.6 weeks for males.
Life expectancy fell during the pandemic, driven by deaths from COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. Increases in other causes of death, particularly circulatory conditions, also contributed.
The impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy has lessened compared to 2021-2023. Although the period 2022-2024 excludes 2020 and 2021, where the highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 were recorded, COVID-19 is still having a negative impact on life expectancy.
There were some causes of death that saw improvements in mortality rates in 2022-2024 compared to 2017-2019, directly before the pandemic, particularly cancers, respiratory diseases (excluding COVID-19), and Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. It’s important to understand that people with these diseases are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, and it is very likely that some who died due to COVID-19 might have otherwise died of respiratory disease or cancer if the pandemic had not happened.
Figure 2: Since 2017-2019, COVID-19 is the individual factor having the largest negative impact on life expectancy for females and males
Life expectancy change from 2017-2019 to 2022-2024 by cause and sex, Scotland
5. Life expectancy at older ages
In 2022-2024, life expectancy at age 65 was 19.85 years for females and 17.71 years for males. This is an increase of 7.8 weeks for females and 9.8 weeks for males since 2021-2023. Life expectancy for females and males aged 65 in 2022-2024 is 1.8 and 1.7 weeks higher respectively than in 2017-2019, immediately before the pandemic.
Life expectancy at age 65 has followed a similar pattern to life expectancy at birth, increasing until 2012-2014, followed by a stall up to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when it started falling, then increasing again in the most recent periods. Life expectancy at 85 follows a similar pattern.
Figure 3: Life expectancy in older ages has increased since 2021-2023
Life expectancy at older ages, Scotland
6. Life expectancy in the UK
Estimates for life expectancy in other nations presented in this section are produced by the Office for National Statistics, and are available in their National Life Tables publication.
Scotland had the lowest life expectancy of all UK countries for both females and males in 2022-2024. Life expectancy at birth was 81.06 years for females and 77.12 years for males in Scotland, compared to 83.02 for females and 79.12 for males across the UK.
In 2022-2024, life expectancy in Scotland was two years lower than England for both females and males. The difference compared to Wales was smaller although still over a year.
Figure 4: Scotland continues to have the lowest life expectancy across the UK
Life expectancy at birth in UK countries
Note: Please note that the y-axis does not start at 0 years. This is so that it is easier to see detail in the chart, however we would caution users that the scale may make small changes over time appear larger than they are.
7. Life expectancy across Europe
Life expectancy in Scotland continues to be low compared to other countries in Europe, particularly compared to other Western European countries. Eurostat publish information on life expectancy across Europe, which is available to view and download via their data browser.
8. Life expectancy and population dynamics: time to death statistics
Life expectancy estimates can also be used to look at population ageing. As life expectancy increases, the age at which a person is ‘elderly’ or approaching death changes. One way to look at this is the age where someone has 15 years of remaining life expectancy (RLE).
In 2022-2024, females have 15 years RLE at age 71.26, and males at age 68.70. This figure has followed a similar pattern to overall life expectancy over the past few decades.
Figure 5: The age at which females and males have 15 years of remaining life expectancy has followed the pattern of overall life expectancy in the past few decades
Age at which a person has 15 years of remaining life expectancy, Scotland, 1981-1983 to 2022-2024
Note: Please note that the y-axis does not start at 0 years. This is so that it is easier to see detail in the chart, however we would caution users that the scale may make small changes over time appear larger than they are.
Why do ‘time do death’ and ‘15 years RLE’ matter?
Often, we define the ‘elderly’ population as those above a certain age. However, studies show that a lot of the health problems related to old age are more closely associated with how long someone has left to live rather than how long they have already lived. This means it may be more useful for health and social care policy to look at what age people would expect to have 15 years of RLE at, and how many people have 15 or fewer years of life expectancy remaining, rather than the number of people above a certain age.
We can also look at the proportion of the population that has 15 or fewer years of RLE and compare this to those aged 65+. The proportion of the female and male population aged 65+ has consistently increased since the early 1980s. The proportion of the population with 15 years or fewer of RLE fell from the early 1980s until around a decade ago, suggesting that more people were expecting to live longer, even as the population aged. After 2015-17, it plateaued and then began to climb again for females, and after 2013-2015 for males it started to climb again.
However, in the two most recent three-year periods, 2021-2023 and 2022-2024, the proportion of both females and males with 15 or fewer years of RLE has started to decrease again, although it is still above levels seen pre-pandemic.
Figure 6: The proportion of the female and male population with 15 or fewer years of RLE fell from the early 1980s. After increasing again during the 2010s for males, and increasing following a plateau in the 2010s for females, it has decreased from 2021-2023 onwards for both sexes.
Percent of population age 65+ years and with 15 or fewer years of remaining life expectancy by sex, Scotland, 1981-1983 to 2022-2024
Note: Please note that the y-axis does not start at 0 years. This is so that it is easier to see detail in the chart, however we would caution users that the scale may make small changes over time appear larger than they are.
9. Life expectancy in Scotland’s council areas
Estimates for sub-national geographies, such as council areas, NHS health boards, and special areas such as deprivation (SIMD), urban rural and Scottish Parliamentary Constituencies are based on abridged life tables. This means that they are not comparable to our ‘headline’ national estimates. We provide Scotland-level estimates calculated using abridged life tables to enable comparisons for sub-national geographies. Please see the explanation in section 2 for more detail.
In 2022-2024, life expectancy was highest in East Renfrewshire at 84.9 (±0.6) years for females and 81.5 (±0.7) years for males. Life expectancy was lowest in Glasgow City, at 78.7 (±0.3) years for females and 74.3 (±0.3) years for males. This is consistent with what has been seen in previous periods.
There was variation across council areas in how life expectancy has changed compared to 2021-2023. Life expectancy has increased in some council areas, and decreased in others.
Over the past decade, since 2012-2014, female and male life expectancy increased the most in East Renfrewshire, by 2.2 years for females and 1.7 years for males, and decreased most in North Ayrshire, by 1.3 years for females and 1.5 years for males.
It is important to note that the smaller areas, particularly the islands, have large confidence intervals due to their small populations. This means that comparisons between estimates should be done with caution.
Figure 7: There is a 6.2 year difference in life expectancy between East Renfrewshire and Glasgow City for females, and a 7.2 year difference for males.
Life expectancy at birth in Council areas with 95% confidence intervals (ordered by female life expectancy), Scotland, 2022-2024
While life expectancy varies between geographical areas like council areas and health boards, the variation in life expectancy is far greater when we split Scotland by level of deprivation. In 2022-2024, the difference between the 10% most and 10% least deprived areas of Scotland for females was 10.5 years. For males, this difference was 13.2 years. For both females and males, life expectancy increases as area deprivation decreases.
The life expectancy gap between the most and least deprived areas has increased slightly since 2009-2011 for both females and males, with the gap being wider for males than for females.
Deprivation (SIMD)
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is a measure of how deprived an area is. A score is given to all of Scotland’s 6,976 data zones based on several indicators of deprivation. The data zones are then ranked 1 to 6,976 based on their score. The rankings are split into 10 equally sized groups for SIMD deciles, or five groups for SIMD quintiles. SIMD is updated regularly to reflect changes in area deprivation, and the appropriate version of SIMD has been used for each year within this analysis. More information on SIMD can be found on the Scottish Government website.
Figure 8: Life expectancy is lowest in the most deprived areas and highest in the least deprived areas
Life expectancy at birth by sex and SIMD decile, Scotland, 2022-2024
In previous years we have also published estimates for Scottish Council Areas split by SIMD. We aim to produce an updated time series of these estimates in early 2026, to allow for additional time for quality assurance of these figures.
12. Life expectancy in urban and rural areas
How are urban and rural areas defined?
The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification provides a consistent way of defining urban and rural areas across Scotland. Estimates in this publication are based on the 6-fold urban rural classification, which groups each data zone in Scotland into six categories, from the most urban (Large Urban Areas) to the most rural (Remote Rural Areas). All estimates in this publication are based on the 2020 edition of the urban rural classification. More information is available on the Scottish Government website.
Life expectancy also varies by rurality across Scotland with people living in rural areas generally living longer and spending more years in good health than those in urban areas.
In 2022-2024, the gap in life expectancy between females living in the most urban areas and females living in the most rural areas was 2.6 years. For males, this gap was 2.9 years.
Generally, life expectancy is highest in more rural areas and lowest in more urban areas, but in 2022-2024 female and male life expectancy was estimated to be lowest in remote small towns, the third most rural class of the 6-fold classification. However, confidence intervals are particularly wide for this class, so caution should be used when making comparisons.
Figure 9: Life expectancy is highest in rural areas for both females and males
Life expectancy at birth by Urban-Rural classification, Scotland, 2022-2024
13. Methodology
How national life expectancy is calculated
The latest life expectancy figures are calculated from the mid-year population estimates for Scotland and the number of deaths registered in Scotland during 2022, 2023 and 2024. Life expectancy for Scotland is calculated for each year of age and represents the average number of years that someone of that age could expect to live if death rates for each age group remained constant over their lifetime.
Life expectancy in Scotland is calculated as a three-year average, produced by combining deaths and population data for the three-year period. Three years of data are needed to provide large enough numbers to make these figures accurate and lessen the effect of very ‘good’ or ‘bad’ years, although in some instances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the effect of particularly extreme years still has an effect on these three-year averages. Throughout this publication, the latest life expectancy figures refer to the three-year period 2022-2024.
How sub-national life expectancy is calculated
We calculate life expectancy for areas within Scotland using a very similar method to the national figures but with a few key differences, as introduced in Section 2. Firstly, we use age groups rather than single year of age. This is to increase the population size of each age group to reduce fluctuations and ensure accurate calculation of mortality rates. Secondly, we use a maximum age group of 90+ whereas the national figures are calculated up to age 100. These are known as ‘abridged life tables.’ Because these methods produce slightly different figures, we also calculate a Scotland figure using the abridged method to allow for accurate comparisons between local areas for example. This Scotland figure is only for comparison and does not replace the headline national figure. You can read more information about the methods in this publication in our methodology guide on the NRS website.
Uses of life expectancy
Life expectancy at birth is a very useful indicator of mortality conditions across a population at a particular point in time. It also provides an objective means of comparing trends in mortality over time, between areas of a country and with other countries. This is used to monitor and investigate health inequalities and to set public health targets. Life expectancy is also used to inform pensions policy, research and teaching.
14. Related statistics and methodology
Quality of administrative data sources
Life expectancy is calculated using mid-year population estimates and deaths data as inputs. Information about the quality of deaths data is available on the Vital Events section of the NRS website.
15. Information about our statistics
These statistics are designated as Accredited Official Statistics. More information about Official Statistics can be found on the Statistics governance and consultation page.
We also provide information about upcoming publications on our website.
If you would like receive updates on our statistics, you can register your interest on the Scottish Government ScotStat website.
