Brits have the worst life expectancy in Western Europe, a shocking new report has revealed.
An analysis of life expectancy across the continent found people born in the UK can now expect to live about 80.9 years on average.
This puts Britain behind the average of 81.5 years of life for the 27 EU countries, and the worst in Western Europe the report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found.
Switzerland has the highest life expectancy, with the average Swiss living until 84.2 years — three years more than the average Brit. This was closely followed Spain at 84 years and Italy at 83.8 years.
The OECD report, which examined life expectancy in 39 European countries, ranked Britain 21st, losing out to countries like Malta, Cyprus, Greece and Slovenia.
Moldova reported the lowest life expectancy at 73.3 years, followed by the embattled Ukraine at 74.3 years and Georgia at 73.7 years.Â
The OECD report comes after the UK’s own Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reported a drop in life expectancy.
A ONS report last month found men have lost six months of life and women three months since the Covid pandemic.
Boys born in England today are only expected to live 79 years while girls will live 83 years on average, a decline on figures recorded pre-pandemic period.Â
Some analysts have blamed the fall on increased mortality from Covid deaths, while others have pointed to increased obesity rates and its impact on health.
OECD analysts also highlighted that the average life expectancy across the EU had increased by a year since the last report published in 2022.
In contrast, Britain’s life expectancy had only increased by six months in that same period.Â
The report also found women’s life expectancy continued to be higher than men’s across the EU, with females living an average of 5.3 years longer.
But researchers said the gap is narrowing.
Data for the UK suggested the life expectancy gap was just shy of four years — women live almost 83 years compared to men’s 79.Â
