LIFE expectancy rates for men and women across much of Gwent remain below the Wales and UK averages, new figures reveal.

And men and women in Blaenau Gwent continue to have among the lowest life expectancies in the UK.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that Wales- and UK-wide, those born during 2014-16 can expect to live longer than those born during 2001-03.

But improvements vary between areas, and there are discrepancies between men and women in terms of those improvements. Gwent’s life expectancy figures for 2014-16 are:

  • Newport – 78.2 years for men, up three-and-a-half years on 2001-03, and 81.9 years for women, up one-and-a-half years;

  • Monmouthshire – 80.8 years for men, up 3.8 years on 2001-03, and 83.9 years for women, up 2.6 years;

  • Torfaen – 78 years for men, up 2.6 years from 2001-03, and 82.4 years for women, up 2.4 years;

  • Caerphilly – 77.9 years for men, up 3.3 years from 2001-03, and 81.3 years for women, up 1.9 years;

  • Blaenau Gwent – 76.6 years for men, up three years from 2001-03, and 80.6 years for women, up 2.2 years.

The 2014-16 figures for Blaenau Gwent, for men and women, continue a trend of being the lowest in Wales and among the 20 lowest out of around 350 council areas in the UK

Life expectancy in Blaenau Gwent is for men 1.8 years shorter, and for women 1.7 years shorter, than the Welsh average. Against the UK figures, the difference is even starker, at 2.6 years lower for men, and 2.3 years lower for women.

Life expectancy is below the Wales and UK averages for men in all parts of Gwent aside from Monmouthshire.

For women, life expectancy is below the Wales average in Newport, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly, and below the UK average across Gwent, again except for Monmouthshire.