‌Only Newcastle has a healthy life expectancy of above 60, though the city’s figure has fallen for both men and women over the last decade. The region’s lowest healthy life expectancy for men is seen in South Tyneside at 55.8 years and for women in County Durham, at 55.4 years. ‌Every area of the North East has seen healthy life expectancy worsen over the last decade except for Gateshead, which saw small improvements for both men and women, and Sunderland, where the situation improved for men. Hannah Davies, CEO of the Northern Health Science Alliance, said: “Sadly these deeply concerning figures on a decrease in healthy life expectancy are not a surprise. “Improving healthy life expectancy for all should be a non-party political issue but to do that we need to recognise as a society that its roots lie in poverty and deprivation.

Source: Daily Mirror February 20, 2026 11:01 UTC