Health and Wellbeing

The health and wellbeing of Northumberland residents covers topics such as life expectancy, disability and long term illness, incapacity and general health, and lifestyle

Life expectancy at birth for males was 79.2 years and 82.6 years for females, in Northumberland (2014/16).

The dependency ratio (proportion for older people, to people of working age) in Northumberland is 2.6 in 2015
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Good health: 78.3% of residents in Northumberland (2011 Census) classed themselves as in either ‘good’ or ‘very good’ health, and 6.3% felt they were in ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ health.

Long term health problems or disability: 9.8% of all residents in Northumberland felt their day-to-day activities were limited due to long-term health problems or disability, whereas 79.3% felt their day-to-day activities were not limited (2011 Census).

Fertility: The birth rate in Northumberland (per 1,000 of the population) in 2016 was 8.9, lower than the England figure of 12.0. The percentage of these live births outside of marriage or civil partnership was 55.5%.

Mortality: In 2016, the age-standardised mortality rate (ASMR) for Northumberland was 1012 deaths per 100,000 population compared to 959 for England.

Smoking: In 2014, the prevalence of smoking among people aged 18 and over was 16.5% compared to the England figure of 18% (2014).

Drinking: The proportion of adults aged 16 and over in Northumberland who binge drink, has increased from 23% to 30% over the period 2003-05 and 2007-08.

Children and physical education: There has been a significant drop in the number of pupils taking part in curriculum physical education over the last 13 years, with figures for 2010 show that only 60% of Northumberland pupils take part in at least 120 minutes of curriculum PE.

The Active People Survey:  49.9% of adults in Northumberland achieve at least 150 mins of at least moderate intensity physical activity per week, lower than the England figure of 57% (2014).