Females expected to live almost 4 years longer than males

Date published: 09 December 2025

New official statistics published today by NISRA statisticians in the Department of Health present a detailed analysis of the latest estimates of life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy covering the period 2022-24.

Key findings

Current life expectancy estimates:

• In 2022-24, life expectancy in Northern Ireland (NI) was 78.8 years for males and 82.6 years for females.
• Since 1980-82, life expectancy has increased by 9.6 years for males and 7.1 years for females, although growth has slowed in recent years.

Male-female gap: 

• In 2022-24, females in NI could expect to live 3.8 years longer than males.
• Across all age groups, male mortality was higher than that of females, most notably within the 70-79 years age group which contributed 0.8 years to the gap.

Deprivation gap:

• Males in the most deprived areas live 7.2 years fewer than those in the least deprived areas, while the gap for females is 5.5 years. For both males and females, mortality across the majority of causes of death was higher in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived.

Healthy life expectancy:

• Healthy life expectancy decreased for females by 1.9 years over the last five years, from 62.1 years to 60.2 years.
• The healthy life expectancy deprivation gap widened for males, reaching 14.9 years in 2022-24 compared with 12.0 years in 2018-20.

About the publication

This annual publication presents the latest estimates of life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy. 

The report explores the extent to which mortality within certain age groups and causes of death contribute to the observed variations in life expectancy over time, in addition to inequality gaps between sexes, deprivation levels, Health and Social Care Trusts and Local Government Districts.

Further information

For the full report: Life expectancy in Northern Ireland 2022-24

View data tables and background information: Life expectancy in Northern Ireland 2022-24