The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 26 October 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the life expectancy is of (a) men and (b) women in (i) the East Midlands and (ii) the South East; and what it was in (1) 1996 and (b) 2000 in each case. (96949)
Life expectancy figures are calculated as three year rolling averages. The table below provides the period life expectancy at birth for (a) men and (b) women in (i) the East Midlands and (ii) the South East government office regions, in (1) 1995-97, (2) 1999-2001, and (3) 2002-04 (the latest period available).
Table 1: Period life expectancy at birth1, East Midlands and South East Government office regions2,1995-97,1999-2001 and 2002-043Years of lifeMaleFemaleYear3Life expectancy95 percent confidence interval4Life expectancy95 percent confidence interval4East Midlands1995-9774.8(74.7-74.9)79.7(79.6-79.8)1999-200175.7(75.6-75.8)80.3(80.2-80.4)2002-0476.5(76.4-76.6)80.7(80.6-80.8)South East1995-9775.8(75.7-75.9)80.5(80.4-80.6)1999-200176.9(76.9-77.0)81.3(81.2-81.4)2002-04777(77.7-77.8)81.8(81.7-81.9) 1 Period life expectancy at birth is an estimate of the average number of years a newborn baby would survive if he or she experienced the area’s age-specific mortality rates for that time period throughout his or her life. The figure reflects mortality among those living in the area in each time period, rather than mortality among those born in each area. It is not therefore the number of years a baby born in the area in each time period could actually expect to live, both because the death rates of the area are likely to change in the future and because many of those born in the area will live elsewhere for at least some part of their lives. 2 Using boundaries as of 2005 for all the years shown. 3 Three year rolling averages, based on deaths registered in each year and mid-year population estimates. 4 Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. Calculations based on small numbers of events are often subject to random fluctuations. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures.