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Nationally, life expectancy is increasing for both men and women, including in Newcastle but it is increasing more slowly than nationally so the gap continues to widen.  The gap is widening more for women than men.  In 2004-2006, for males the gap (between England and the Spearhead group) was 2% wider than at baseline, while for females it was 11% wider. 

For the period 2004-2006, all age all cause mortality rate in Newcastle was 858 per 100,000 for males and 577 per 100,000 for females.  These rates are statistically significantly higher than the England rates of 732 per 100,000 and 512 per 100,000 respectively.

AAACM for Newcastle - males

AAACM for Newcastle - females

The figure below shows that, in general, areas with higher levels of deprivation suffer from higher mortality rates.

All Age All Cause Mortality vs IMD2007 score: Newcastle Lower Super Output

Areas, 2002-2006 pooled data

Life Expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is a commonly used indicator of the overall health of a population. Reducing differences in life expectancy between the populations of different parts of England is one of the aims of the Government's policy to reduce health inequalities, and the government has set a target to reduce the gap between those areas with the lowest life expectancy, of which Newcastle is one, and the national average.

The relative gap in life expectancy is the difference between the life expectancy in England and life expectancy in Newcastle, as a percentage of life expectancy for England.

The absolute gap in mortality is the actual difference between the mortality rate in England and the mortality rate in Newcastle.  It measures the impact of the unequal health experience in absolute terms, e.g. how many more deaths from cancer (per 100,000 population) there are in the local authority area.

Locally:

• Although Newcastle has experienced increases in life expectancy in recent years, it has improved more slowly than in England as a whole, with the result that the relative gap between Newcastle and England has widened from 1.9% in 1995-97 to 2.6% in 2003-05.

Men

Locally:

• The average life expectancy at birth lags behind the national average, and if past trends continue, the relative gap in life expectancy between England and Newcastle, is likely to widen by 2010.
• According to data for 2003-2005, life expectancy at birth in Newcastle is 74.9 years, compared to 76.9 years in England as a whole.

Explaining the life expectancy gap

The chart below shows the contribution that excess deaths from specified diseases or conditions are having on the life expectancy gap of males in Newcastle. In particular:

• Lung cancer accounts for a higher proportion of the gap in male life expectancy than any other single disease - 17.5%.
• 13% of the gap is accounted for by premature mortality from CHD.
• Eliminating excess deaths from chronic cirrhosis of the liver would narrow the gap in life expectancy by approximately 11%.
• Almost 9% of the gap is accounted for by excess deaths due to suicide and undetermined injuries.

Variation within Newcastle

For men, there is considerable variation within Newcastle between different wards.

there is a 12.6 year difference between the ward with the highest and the ward with the lowest life expectancy at birth: In South Gosforth male life expectancy at birth is 79.3 years while in Byker it is 66.7 years.

Women

Locally:

• Data for 2004-06 shows that female life expectancy at birth in Newcastle lags behind the national average by 1.3 years
• Newcastle has experienced increases in female life expectancy since 1995-97 that exceeds the average increase nationally and the relative gap in life expectancy with England is narrower in 2004-06 than at the 1995-97 baseline, 2.0% and 1.5% respectively

Explaining the life expectancy gap

The charts below show the contribution that excess deaths from specified diseases or conditions are having on the life expectancy gap amongst females. The data relates to the period from 2003-05, and the charts show the main diseases, in terms of their contribution to the life expectancy gap.   All other causes of death are grouped together under the 'Other' category.

• Lung Cancer is by far the greatest contributor to excess mortality in Newcastle, accounting for a quarter of the gap in female life expectancy.
• Excess deaths from CHD and from other cardiovascular disease explain approximately 16% and 8% of the gap respectively.
• 15% of the gap is explained by excess mortality from chronic obstructive airway disease (COAD).
• Eliminating excess deaths from diseases of the nervous system would narrow the gap by approximately 11%.

The age groups with the highest excess mortality are highlighted in red.