Life expectancy

Tower Hamlets has the sixth lowest male life expectancy of the 32 London authorities; females rank the fifth lowest

The relationship between early death and deprivation is well recognised. According to the Indices of Deprivation (Communities & Local Government 2007) Tower Hamlets ranks as the third most deprived local authority in England.

Males in the borough have a life expectancy of 75 years, ranking the sixth lowest amongst the 32 London authorities; females have a life expectancy of 80 years, ranking the fifth lowest amongst the London authorities. In both cases the borough is below the UK average for males and females, respectively 77 years and 81 years.

Amongst the 374 local authorities in England and Wales, Kensington and Chelsea has the highest life expectancy for men at 83
years and Manchester the lowest at 73 years. Tower Hamlets males rank twenty-sixth lowest.

For women Kensington and Chelsea again top the list at 87 years with Liverpool the lowest at 78 years. Tower Hamlet females rank fifty-first lowest (from life expectancy at birth (years), England & Wales 1991-1993 to 2004-2006 (ONS 2007).

View graphs of life expectancy for males and females across London boroughs (PDF, 21k)

Although life expectancy in the borough is below that for the UK, this masks substantial differences between the wards. For males in St. Dunstan’s and Stepney Green ward life expectancy at birth over 2002-2006 was 72 years. The corresponding figure for Millwall ward was 80 years.

The figures are only slightly less disparate for females, falling as low as 78 years in Limehouse ward to as high as 85 years in Millwall ward.

Of the 18 wards in the borough only two fall above the national life expectancy for males (77 years) and six fall above the national figure for females (81 years).

View graphs showing life expectancy for males and females by wards (PDF, 19k)

View a map of the borough coded in terms the difference in life expectancy between males and females by wards (PDF, 79k)

Mortality in the borough paints a similar picture to life expectancy. In 2006 there were 1,181 deaths amongst Tower Hamlets residents. Of these, 557 (47per cent) occurred in residents aged less than 75. These deaths can be seen as ‘premature’ and potentially preventable.

For males in Tower Hamlets mortality between 2004 -2006 across all ages, from all causes, was 867 per 100,000 population. This was 20 per cent higher than the figure for males in London. The corresponding figure for females in Tower Hamlets, 582 per 100,000, was just under 20 per cent higher than the figure for females in London (from life expectancy at birth (years), England & Wales 1991-1993 to 2004-2006 (ONS 2007))

View a graph of mortality from all causes, all ages, 2004-2006, comparing Tower Hamlets with London and England (PDF, 16k)