The first drop in life expectancy in Scotland for 35 years should “shame” both the Scottish and UK governments, it has been claimed.

Official figures revealed that life expectancy for men had fallen slightly from 77.07 years for boys born in 2014-16, to 77.02 years for those born in 2015-17. Over the same period, the figure for women fell from 81.15 years to 81.09 years.

Opposition parties said the data from the National Records of Scotland was a “wake up call” for the SNP administration and all those involved in public health.

The decline followed three years in which there was little change in life expectancy and NRS said it indicated a "stall in life expectancy improvements” north of the border.

Life expectancy has increased by 7.9 years for men and 5.8 years for women over the last 35 years, but the figures show Scotland still has the lowest life expectancy of the four nations in the UK.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that life expectancy for the UK as a whole was unchanged, with a girl born between 2015 and 2017 expected to live for 82.9 years, and boys expected to live for 79.2 years.