Average life expectancy higher in Guernsey and Jersey than in all parts of UK

The report focusses on mortality during 2019–21 but includes data from previous years to show changes over time. Comparisons are given with Jersey and the UK countries/English Regions. Information is given on:

• Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy;
• Infant and child mortality;
• Seasonality and place of death;
• Main causes of death;
• Years of life and working life lost by cause;
• Avoidable and preventable deaths;
• Deaths connected to smoking and alcohol;

Key findings to note from the report include:

• Total life expectancy for Guernsey is high; healthy life expectancy is mid-range. Women live longer but with a shorter time lived in good health, compared to men;

•  Infant and child mortality are low and stable;
• Excess death counts for 2020 and 2021 (the main years of the COVID-19 pandemic) are in line with experience in previous years; COVID-19 deaths were considerably lower in Guernsey than in other jurisdictions;
• The four leading causes of death in Guernsey are cancers (31%), circulatory diseases (26%), respiratory diseases (10%) and mental and behavioural disorders (8%);
• Around 2,200 years of life are lost in Guernsey each year; the rate of years of life lost (YLL) has increased since 2013–15. The top contributory causes to YLL are suicide, lung cancer and alcohol-specific deaths;
• Around 21% of deaths during 2019–21 were ‘avoidable’;
• The proportion of deaths assigned an underlying cause of Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease has more than doubled over the last 20 years from 4.2% to 10.0%;
• The rate of deaths from suicide and injury of undetermined intent has increased from 7 per 100,000 in 2013–15 to 15 per 100,000 in 2019–21 and is currently higher than England and Wales and Jersey. There was a pronounced peak in suicides in 2021 with 11 during that year;
• An estimated 10% of deaths are caused by smoking;
• Alcohol specific mortality is in line with the UK. It has increased since the last report, but the significance of this increase is not certain.

Head of Public Health Intelligence, Jenny Cataroche, said of the report: “We are pleased to be able to publish this report which looks at many different aspects of mortality, including where people die, the main causes of death, how deaths vary by season, the proportion of deaths that could be considered avoidable and much more. By setting out the data and looking at how mortality experience varies between groups of people, we can potentially identify areas of inequality that need more attention or pick up trends in causes of death that are new for the population.

“One example of this is a notable difference in avoidable mortality between males and females with males making up 62% of avoidable deaths during 2019–21, compared to females who make up 38% of avoidable deaths in that timeframe. Knowing that this inequality exists means that further questions can be asked to explore the underlying reasons. Are men seeking treatment promptly for health issues as they arise? Are there barriers that are preventing men accessing healthcare when the need it? Is enough being done to promote screening services to men and enable the types of behaviours and activities that prevent diseases occurring in the first place?

“These and other questions arising from the Mortality Report are discussed in more detail in the Medical Officer of Health report.”