Introduction

Health inequalities can be defined as systematic, avoidable and unfair differences in people’s health across the population and between specific groups. Organisations such as the World Health Organization and the King’s Fund have published helpful resources on health inequalities, which include detailed descriptions of how health inequalities can be measured, analysed and addressed.

A wide range of factors contribute to health inequalities. These include individual physiological, psychosocial and lifestyle factors; community influences; living and working conditions; and environmental conditions. Interventions to address health inequalities must therefore focus not only on supporting individuals but also on managing these determinants of health.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that people from the most deprived areas spend more years in poor health and have shorter lives overall than those from the least deprived areas. The chart below illustrates this for females, but findings are similar for males.

Source: Office for National Statistics.

Evidence suggests that recent events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, have made health inequalities worse. The four UK nations have developed various strategies to tackle inequalities – for example, the Labour Government’s Manifesto recognises that the UK has stark health inequalities and, as part of its broader health mission, commits to tackling the social determinants of health. Given the increasing emphasis on understanding and tackling health inequalities, we felt it was important to identify what data and statistics are currently published on this topic, what gaps remain and what plans producers have in place to develop their statistics.