North-south life expectancy gap widens

The life expectancy gap between the north and south of Britain has widened further.

While people are living longer in the UK on average, children born in the South of England statistically have a longer life ahead of them than those brought up in Scotland and the North.

A boy from the affluent London borough of Kensington and Chelsea can expect to survive for 13.5 years longer than a boy in Glasgow, figures from the Office for National Statistics show. On average, life expectancy at birth has gone up – from 77 years to 78.2 for men and from 81.3 years to 82.3 years for women.