By Euan Wood.

Life expectancy in Scotland has fallen for the third consecutive year, according to official figures from the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The provisional report noted a significant three and 5.7 week decline for both men and women, as life expectancy for males fell to 76.5 years with females at 80.7 years.

Public Health Consultant at Public Health Scotland and Clinical Lead for the Scottish Public Health Observatory, Margaret Douglas noted the statistics were a ‘significant concern.’

“It is a significant concern that we are seeing life expectancy declining,” Douglas explained.

“There has been a continued excess higher death rate than we would have expected which can’t totally be explained by Covid cases, so we are concerned that there is something else going on.”

University of Glasgow Professor of Wellbeing Economy, Gerry McCartney explained the attributed effects of austerity and how that has continued to impact upon life expectancy and public services in Scotland.

“We’re seeing a tightening of austerity,” McCartney emphasized.

“Ongoing cuts to things like local government services and that’s been compounded now by inflation, but it has also eroded the value of the grants local government get, as there is a declining amount of money available for public services, so all that in turn is having an impact on life expectancy.”

The NRS report detailed notable health inequalities by location, as the highest life expectancy for females was in East Renfrewshire at 84 years and 79.9 years for males in East Dunbartonshire whilst Glasgow recorded the lowest life expectancy for both men and women at 72.9 years for men and 78.2 years for women.

“The [difference in] people living in the most deprived 10% of areas and the least deprived 10% of areas in Scotland is 27 years, and that is simply because the differences in income, wealth, housing, the physical environment, the social environment,” McCartney said.

“It’s a bit of a perfect storm of ongoing austerity, direct acute covid, indirect effects of lockdown, the covid mitigation measures, and the cost of living.

“All of these different mechanisms all drive that difference in life expectancy across areas.”

A 2019 commissioned report from the Observatory for Sport in Scotland concluded that the decline of sports participation is consistent with age, with the participation rate halved from 69% of 16–25-year-olds to 35% of 66-75 year old in 2016 and has remained consistent since.

Danny, a Glasgow based fitness coach of ‘2 birds fitness’ reiterated the importance of fitness and mentioned his hopes for the health of this generation.

“I think there is still time for this generation, as it is a generational shift, Danny explained.

“If you even get people in their 50s, 60s exercising more readily; then the young ones are going to see it and its going to trickle down to do with your own environment. If you see people exercising, eating healthy, and playing sports then it’ll have a positive effect.”

Listen to our report on on the life expectancy figures below: