Male life expectancy in West Dunbartonshire second lowest in Scotland

Provisional data released by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) shows male life expectancy in the council area was 74.3 years in the period 2021-23, an increase from 73.2 years in 2020-22.

Only Glasgow City is lower than the local authority in terms of these numbers.

Female life expectancy was in the lowest five regions, equal with Dundee City but sitting behind Glasgow City, East Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire.

Statistics show it was 79.2 years in the period 2021-23, an increase from 78.4 in 2020-22.

Life expectancy varies across Scotland’s local authority areas and is strongly linked to deprivation.

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It is highest in East Renfrewshire, one of the least deprived parts of the country and lowest in the City of Glasgow, the most deprived. 

Female life expectancy was 10.5 years lower in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived.

In the most deprived areas male life expectancy lagged 13.2 years behind the least deprived. 

Life expectancy at birth in West Dunbartonshire in 20 per cent of most deprived areas is 77.1 for females and 69.9 for males.

For the 20 per cent of least deprived areas, it is 82.8 for females and 78.9 for male.

The males in the most deprived areas is among the lowest in Scotland but not the lowest overall, that number is in Inverclyde which sits at 67.6.

Life expectancy in Scotland as a whole increased slightly for both males and females, according to the figures.

The numbers for 2021-2023 are 80.9 years for females and 76.9 years for males.

Compared to the estimate for 2020-2022, this is an increase of about 14 weeks for males and almost seven weeks for females.

The national figures are still down on where they were prior to the pandemic and most local authorities’ figures are still lower than they were at this point. 

Scotland continues to have lower life expectancy than England and Wales.