• Healthy life expectancy (HLE) is the number of years that someone can expect to live in good or very good health.
  • According to the latest data, girls born in NI today have an HLE of 67.1 years if they live in areas with the lowest deprivation, compared with 52.9 years in the most deprived areas – a gap of 14.2 years.
  • A similar pattern is found with boys: HLEs of 67.0 years and 54.8 years for the most and least deprived areas, for a gap of 12.2 years.
  • Deprivation also impacts overall life expectancy, although the gaps are not as wide.

During an appearance on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show on 16 January, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said:

“People’s healthy lifetime expectancy can vary by as much as 14.2 years. Now, in 2025 exactly a quarter of the way into the 21st Century, here in a First World country, is it acceptable that two women born the same day in the same maternity unit in this city can have life expectancy – a healthy life expectancy – that varies by over 14 years? It’s not even conscionable.”

This claim is supported by evidence.

According to the most recent estimates, a female born now can expect to live in good health for 67.1 years if they live in one of the 20% least deprived areas of Northern Ireland.

However, if they live in one of the 20% most deprived areas, their healthy life expectancy is only 52.9 years – a gap of 14.2 years.

This pattern is also repeated for men. Males born today can expect to live in good health for 67.0 years if they live in the least deprived areas but only for 54.8 years if they live in the most deprived parts of NI – a gap of 12.2 years.

For more information, read on.

  • Source

FactCheckNI contacted the Health Minister about this claim. The Department of Health (DoH) responded by pointing us to this press release from June 2024 as well as the Health inequalities annual report for 2024 (first published in March, and last updated in May). The press release notes that: 

“The gap between the most and least deprived areas in Healthy Life Expectancy (average number of years a person can expect to live in good health) stood at 12.2 years for males and 14.2 years for females in 2020-22. Similar to life expectancy, the gaps have remained similar over the last five years.”

  • What is ‘healthy life expectancy’?

It’s useful to be clear with what these terms mean. 

  • Life expectancy (LE) is the estimate for how long someone will live;
  • Healthy life expectancy (HLE) is the estimate for how many years someone will live in good or very good health. The measure is based on surveys that capture how individuals perceive their general health. 

In the original claim, the Health Minister is talking about the latter and, based on the quotes from the DoH press release, his claim is based on evidence – but let’s take a closer look at the data.

  • Statistics

The latest figures for comparisons between the HLEs of people, based on relative deprivation, was published in last year’s annual health report, and uses data from 2020-22. Further details on how deprivation is currently measured can be found on the NISRA website.

Some more recent life expectancy figures, looking at 2021-23, were published last December but these are just headline figures and do not go into enough detail to compare LE or HLE for people in different socioeconomic circumstances.

Data tables for LE and HLE in 2020-22 are published by DoH. Some of the key statistics are illustrated in the chart below, including figures for the life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy of both males and females who live in either the 20% most deprived or the 20% least deprived areas of NI.

Figure 1 – source: DoH data

In particular, the healthy life expectancy for females in the 20% most deprived areas was estimated at 52.9 years while for those who live in the 20% least deprived areas it is 67.1 years – a gap of 14.2 years.

Therefore, when the Health Minister claimed that two women born the same day in the same maternity unit can have a difference in healthy life expectancy of 14.2 years, that claim was supported by evidence.

  • Details

Deprivation also affects overall life expectancy, albeit the gap is smaller.

Women in the most deprived areas have an LE of 79.3 years while those in the least deprived have an estimated 84.1 years, meaning a gap of 4.8 years.

The bigger difference is not in how long people live – although there is a gap there too – but how long they live in good health.

This pattern is repeated with the estimates for men. Those in the most deprived areas have a healthy life expectancy of 54.8 years and a life expectancy of 74.0 years, while those in the least deprived areas have an estimated HLE of 67.0 years (a gap of 12.2 years) and LE of 81.2 years (7.2).

These results have followed similar patterns for the past decade, according to DoH data.