Life expectancy at birth in United Kingdom was 73.2 years in 1979: 76.2 for women and 70.1 for men, a gap of 6.1 years. 677,778 people died; 76.1% of them were 65 or older and 1.6% children under five. The most common age at death was 75-79. Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects 2024.

Key indicators, 1979

Life expectancy at birth

73.2

Women

76.2

Men

70.1

Life expectancy at 65

14.8

Infant deaths per 1,000 births

13.2

Under-5 deaths per 1,000 births

15.2

Deaths

677,778

Deaths per 1,000 people

12.1

Men dying between 15 and 60 (per 1,000)

169

Women dying between 15 and 60 (per 1,000)

100

Life expectancy is a period measure: how long a newborn would live if 1979's death rates at each age stayed the same for their whole life.

Death rate by age, 1979

Deaths per 1,000 people per year in each age group. Logarithmic scale: each gridline is ten times the one below. Hover for exact values.

WomenMen

Show the life table data

Age	Death rate, women (‰)	Death rate, men (‰)	Years left, women	Years left, men
0	11.67	14.96	76.2	70.1
1-4	0.48	0.55	76.1	70.1
5-9	0.22	0.34	72.2	66.3
10-14	0.20	0.30	67.3	61.4
15-19	0.32	0.88	62.4	56.5
20-24	0.37	0.95	57.5	51.7
25-29	0.48	0.94	52.6	46.9
30-34	0.65	1.05	47.7	42.1
35-39	1.05	1.55	42.8	37.3
40-44	1.77	2.64	38.0	32.6
45-49	3.12	4.83	33.4	28.0
50-54	5.30	8.84	28.8	23.6
55-59	8.10	15.18	24.5	19.6
60-64	12.49	23.97	20.4	15.9
65-69	19.61	38.71	16.6	12.6
70-74	32.60	62.02	13.0	9.8
75-79	55.82	97.79	9.9	7.4
80-84	95.24	145.10	7.3	5.6
85-89	155.44	213.41	5.2	4.1
90-94	243.76	311.77	3.7	3.0
95-99	357.67	424.33	2.7	2.3
100+	498.58	553.34	2.0	1.8

Mortality in United Kingdom by year

Mortality in United Kingdom, 1979

Year

Country