Ireland's life expectancy now higher than England's

The Republic of Ireland's life expectancy of 82.3 years now exceeds that of England, according to a Europe-wide study published in Lancet Public Health. People can expect to live for 81.49 years in England, 80.60 in Wales and 79.48 in Scotland. The study notes that steady improvements in life expectancy slowed in the 2010s, "well before the COVID-19 pandemic."

England suffered the largest decline in life expectancy improvement, with a fall in average annual improvement of 0.18 years, from 0.25 between 1990 and 2011 to 0.07 between 2011 and 2019.

From the study:

The countries that best maintained improvements in life expectancy after 2011 (Norway, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden) did so through better maintenance of reductions in mortality from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, underpinned by decreased exposures to major risks, possibly mitigated by government policies. The continued improvements in life expectancy in five countries during 2019–21 indicate that these countries were better prepared to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, countries with the greatest slowdown in life expectancy improvements after 2011 went on to have some of the largest decreases in life expectancy in 2019–21. These findings suggest that government policies that improve population health also build resilience to future shocks. Such policies include reducing population exposure to major upstream risks for cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, such as harmful diets and low physical activity, tackling the commercial determinants of poor health, and ensuring access to affordable health services.

The following two charts show the relative decline since 2011 (amid collective advancement since 1990) nicely.