Scotland's drug death rate behind stalling of life expectancy figures

Scotland’s shocking drugs death rate is so high it has been linked to the country’s life expectancy figures, which have stalled after rising for three decades.

Since the early 1980s life expectancy has risen by 7.9 years for men and 5.8 years for women.

But the figures have stalled in recent years and have now fallen slightly for both males and females in the most recent figures from 2015-17.

Opposition parties said it was “shocking” and “shameful” that life expectancy for both men and women had fallen and accused the SNP government of failing to tackle “intolerable health inequalities” after over a decade in power.

According to figures from the National Records of Scotland, women can now expect to live for 81.1 years, while men have an average life expectancy of 77 years, representing a small decline of 0.1 years. The country now has lower life expectancy levels than most EU countries.

The NRS report on Scotland’s population last year says the fall is partly due to an increase in the number of drug-related deaths and to a slowdown in the rate of improvement in deaths from heart disease, which remains the country’s major killer.

Last month, it emerged that Scotland has the worst drugs problem in the developed world with a death rate higher than the USA and every country in Europe.

The new report said the rise in drug deaths alone cut average life expectancy by over two weeks in 2018. Drugs claimed the lives of of 1,187 people last year, a 27 per cent increase on 2017.

The NRS report said deprivation had a strong effect on life expectancy, with figures showing girls born in 2015-2017 in the 10 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland can expect to die 9.6 years earlier than those born in the least deprived areas. For males, the difference in life expectancy is 13 years.

The data also shows that women in the most deprived neighbourhoods consider they spend a third of their lives in ill-health.

Paul Lowe, Registrar General for Scotland, said: "Life expectancy in Scotland has been increasing over the long-term but recent estimates indicate that it has stopped improving.

"The largest causes of the stall in life expectancy are the slowing of improvements seen in the reduction of deaths from heart disease and increases in drug-related deaths.”

Meanwhile, Scotland's population has risen for the ninth year in a row and stands at a record 5.44 million, with migration the main driver of growth.

The growing population was driven by net inward migration, as deaths exceeded births by 7,700, the worst level on record.

Meanwhile Scotland's total fertility rate is the lowest in the UK and falling at a faster rate than other parts of the UK.

David Stewart, Scottish Labour’s health spokesman, said it shameful that the life expectancy of both men and women in Scotland has slowed down and now fallen.

He added: “Not only does Scotland have the lowest life expectancy rates of any part of the UK, the life expectancy gap between the richest and the poorest is growing - it cannot be right that those living in the richest areas can also expect to live in good health for over 20 years longer than those in poorest areas.

“That rising numbers of drugs deaths are contributing to falling life expectancy is also troubling. Scottish Labour has been clear that the drugs deaths crisis needs urgent action and is calling on the SNP to legally designate a public health emergency.

“The SNP government has failed to tackle intolerable health inequalities after over a decade in power.”

Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative health spokesman, said the life expectancy figures highlighted the “national scandal” of Scotland’s drug deaths.

He added: “The Scottish Conservatives have already called for a cross-party summit in order to understand and tackle this problem but the SNP has failed to engage.”

Fiona Hyslop, the Culture Minister, said that while Scotland’s total population was at its highest level, there were a “number of challenges”.

She added: "With all of Scotland's population growth predicted to come from migration, the impact and risk of Brexit means that we may not have a large enough working age population to support public services, industries and our economy.

"We need to grow our population to ensure we have sustainable, vibrant and resilient communities and drive improvements in inclusive growth.”