National Records of Scotland

Preserving the past, Recording the present, Informing the future

Life Expectancy in Scotland, 2017-2019

Life Expectancy in Scotland, 2017-2019

Last update: 24 September 2020National Statistics Icon
Next update: September 2021
Frequency: Annual

Key Findings

  • In Scotland in 2017-2019, life expectancy at birth was 77.1 years for males and 81.1 years for females. This is a small increase of around 0.1 years for both males and females since the 2016-2018 figures published last year.
  • Life expectancy in Scotland has increased since the early 1980s but has now remained virtually unchanged since 2012-2014.
  • Life expectancy at age 65 in 2017-2019 was 17.7 years for males and 19.8 years for females in Scotland.
  • Scotland has the lowest life expectancy at birth of all UK countries. Average life expectancy in the UK was 79.4 years for males and 83.1 years for females.
  • Female life expectancy at birth was highest in East Renfrewshire (84.0 years) and lowest in Glasgow City (78.5 years).
  • Male life expectancy at birth was highest in East Dunbartonshire (80.5 years) and lowest in Glasgow City (73.6 years)
  • The majority of Scotland’s council areas have experienced a slow-down or a stall in life expectancy growth since 2012-2014 and many areas now have decreasing life expectancy.
  • The gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas was 13.3 years for males and 10.0 years for females.

Contact Us

Please get in touch if you need any further information, or have any suggestions for improvement.

E-mail: [email protected]

For media enquiries, please contact [email protected]

All statistical publications