Healthier men now OUTLIVE women in many parts of England as they quit smoking and get fit in middle age

In some areas males are outliving females by as much as 13 years

Believed to be first time since records began that roles have been reversed

In Crawley, West Sussex, male life expectancy is 96 - for females it is 83

Men are beginning to outlive women in parts of Britain as they change their lifestyles to drop unhealthy habits.

The figures published by Public Health England last month are thought to be the first time the trend has been recorded in the country, with 800,000 people now living in areas where men are expected to outlive women.

In one area of West Sussex men are living 13 years longer than women, while there are more than 36 regions where men are living at least a year longer.

Men are outliving women in more than 100 areas of England for the first time since records began as they get fit and stop smoking

An ONS analyst said greater life expectancy for men in some areas was down to lifestyle, with employed, well-educated men most likely to live longer.

Experts believe men are closing the gap on women by becoming more health-conscious, while women’s life expectancy is not increasing at the same rate as they are now more likely to smoke and binge drink alcohol.

Increasing gender equality has led to more women taking up these kinds of ‘unhealthy male behaviour’.



They are also spending more of their lives working which could be affecting their life expectancy, academics writing in the North American Actuarial Journal said.

Men living in the affluent west London areas of Ladbroke Grove, Sloane Street and Belgravia were all expected to live up to five-and-a-half years longer, the figures from 2006 to 2010 show.

The top area for men outliving women was Bewbush and Broadfield, suburbs of Crawley, West Sussex, where men are expected to reach 96 years old, but women only reach 83.

The district is a mix of middle-class homes and more deprived housing estates, meaning experts are struggling to explain the large difference – though it is thought a small sample size may have affected the area’s results.

However, despite a growing trend for the opposite, women in England are still generally expected to live longer.

