The researchers compared various factors impacting life expectancy in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and other European nations including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
He continued: “Countries like Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Belgium held onto better life expectancy after 2011, and saw reduced harms from major risks for heart disease, helped by government policies.
While advances in heart disease and cancer care boosted life expectancy between 1990 and 2011, these improvements slowed considerably from 2011 to 2019.
Between 2019 and 2021, which includes the first part of the Covid-19 pandemic, most countries saw a fall in life expectancy except for Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
Researchers said that the countries which “best maintained” improvements in life expectancy had fewer heart disease and cancer deaths.
