State pension age is currently 66 and rising and people often plan on taking their private pensions (Image: Getty)
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), at birth for men between 2021 and 2023 in England fell by 1.7 years, and in Wales by 1.1 years, when compared to the years between 2017 and 2019.
For women, it fell by 1.9 years in England and 2.2 years in Wales.
This data will fuel an ongoing debate into when people can take their age, amid fears the Labour government may ramp up the retirement age.
It is due to rise to 68 by the mid-2040s, but experts argue the decline in healthy life expectancy should form a key part in the debate into whether it should rise further.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “These figures show a shocking decline in healthy life expectancy in England and Wales in recent years and exposes the dilemma at the heart of our retirement planning – what if we are too ill to work?”
Morrissey pointed out that the age is currently 66 and rising and people often plan on taking their private pensions from their mid-sixties, so there’s a worrying gap in our planning that needs to be filled.
She said: “The picture for life expectancy gets even more concerning when you look at it from a more granular level. Healthy life expectancy at birth was highest in Wokingham and lowest in Blackpool for men, and in Barnsley for women.”
“This has major impacts on our retirement planning. All our best laid plans can unravel if the reality is that we struggle to work well into our sixties and we could face a period of years where we are too ill to work and are too young to claim our state pensions. This puts extra pressure on our own pension savings to make up the gap.”
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Life expectancy around the UK – how long will you live for?
Men in the UK are not living as long as they were before the pandemic period ranging between 2017 and 2019. In more than 80 percent of Great Britain, female life expectancy was lower.
- The 10 highest local areas for life expectancy were in the south of England; the 10 lowest were in Scotland, in the north of England and in Wales.
- The 10 highest local area female life expectancies at birth were also all located in the south of England; the 10 lowest were mostly in Scotland.
- In England, the lowest life expectancy across local areas was in Blackpool, where it was 73.1 years for men and 78.9 for women.
- The highest life expectancy in England could be found in Hart for men, who can expect to live for an average of 83.4 years, and in Kensington and Chelsea for women, where it was 86.5.
- In Scotland, the lowest life expectancy across local areas was in Glasgow City at 73.6 years for men and 78.3 for women.
- The highest life expectancy north of the border was in East Renfrewshire at 81 for men and 84.5 for women.
- In Wales, the lowest life expectancy across local areas was in Merthyr Tydfil for males at 75.4 and Blaenau Gwent for women at 79.
- On the other hand, the highest life expectancy for both men, at 80.4, and women at 83.9, was in Monmouthshire.