You wouldn’t think it after the pandemic and general panic about the state of the National Health Service, but according to the Office For National Statistics, our general health is getting better. This is the conclusion of analysis of 2021 census polling, in which people were asked to rate the state of their own health.
In England, the proportion of people reporting very good health increased (from 45.0% in 2011, to 47.5% in 2021), whereas there were decreases in the proportion of people reporting good health (from 34.8% in 2011, to 34.2% in 2021), bad health (from 4.6% in 2011, to 4.1% in 2021) and very bad health (from 1.4% in 2011, to 1.2% in 2021).
The North East was the region in England with the highest proportion of people reporting very bad health, at 1.6% of the population.
In Wales, there were increases in the proportion of people who reported very good health (from 45.7% in 2011, to 46.6% in 2021) and good health (from 31.4% in 2011, to 32.5% in 2021), and decreases in the proportion of people who reported bad health (from 6.0% in 2011, to 5.1% in 2021) and very bad health (from 1.9% in 2011, to 1.6% in 2021).
The local authorities with the highest proportions of people reporting very good health (Kensington and Chelsea, 58.0%) and very bad health (Tower Hamlets, 2.5%) were both in London.
In Wales, Gwynedd (51.5%) was the local authority with the highest proportion of people reporting very good health and Merthyr Tydfil (2.4%) was the local authority with the highest proportion of people reporting very bad health.
Five-Point Scale
Respondents were asked to assess their general health on a five-point scale: “Very good”, “Good”, “Fair”, “Bad”, or “Very bad”.
Census 2021 was conducted during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This may have influenced how people perceive and rate their general health and therefore may have affected how people chose to respond.
Across England and Wales, there was an increase in the proportion of people reporting very good health and a decrease in the proportion of people reporting very bad health, compared with the 2011 Census.
The census data show:
- An increase in the proportion of people reporting their health as very good to 47.5% (28.8 million) in 2021 (from 45.0%, 26.4 million, in 2011)
- A smaller proportion but larger number of people reporting their health as good, to 34.1% (20.0 million) in 2021 (from 34.6%, 19.1 million in 2011)
- A decrease in the proportion of people reporting their health as fair, to 13.1% (7.6 million) in 2021 (from 14.3%, 7.4 million in 2011)
- A smaller proportion, but similar number of people reporting their health as bad, to 4.2% (2.4 million) in 2021 (from 4.7%, 2.4 million in 2011)
- A decrease in the proportion of people reporting their health as very bad, to 1.2% (715,000) in 2021 (from 1.4%, 716,000 in 2011)
The data show that the proportion of people reporting very good health increased in almost every local authority in England and Wales. Only in a small minority were there increases in the proportion of people reporting bad or very bad health.
In England, the data show an increase in the proportion of people reporting very good health, and decreases in all other categories. There was:
- An increase of 2.5 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting very good health, from 45.0% (25.0 million) in 2011 to 47.5% (27.4 million) in 2021
- A decrease of 0.6 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting good health (from 34.8% in 2011 to 34.2% in 2021), although the overall number who reported good health increased (from 18.1 million in 2011 to 19.0 million in 2021)
- A decrease of 1.2 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting fair health, from 14.2% (7.0 million) in 2011 to 13.0% (7.1 million) in 2021
- A decrease of 0.5 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting bad health, from 4.6% (2.3 million) in 2011 to 4.1% (2.2 million) in 2021
- A decrease of 0.2 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting very bad health (from 1.4% in 2011 to 1.2% in 2021), although there was a small increase in the overall number who reported very bad health (from 661,000 in 2011 to 663,000 in 2021)
The general health trends for the regions in England generally followed this nationwide pattern. In 2021, the region with the highest proportion of people reporting very good health was the South East (49.6%, 4.6 million), which was also true in 2011 (47.5%, 4.2 million). The South East also had the lowest proportion of people reporting very bad health, at 0.9% (86,000).
Conversely, the North East had the highest proportion of people reporting very bad health (1.6%, 43,000) and the lowest proportion reporting very good health (44.7%, 1.2 million). However, when compared with 2011 this was a decrease in the proportion reporting very bad health (from 1.8%, 44,000) and an increase in the proportion reporting very good health (from 42.7%, 1.1 million), showing that health in the North East has improved.
Local
At the local authority level, the areas of England with the highest proportion of people reporting very good health were Kensington and Chelsea (58.0%), Elmbridge (57.7%), and Richmond-upon-Thames (57.6%). The lowest proportion was in Stoke-on-Trent (40.2%).
The 14 local authorities with the largest increases in the proportion of the population reporting very good health (ranging from 4.7 to 6.7 percentage points) were all in London. The area with the greatest increase was Hackney, which rose from 41.8% in 2011 to 48.5% in 2021.
Out of all English local authorities, Tower Hamlets had the highest proportion of people reporting both very bad health (2.5%) and bad health (7.0%). Tower Hamlets also had the highest proportions in 2011, however, this was a decrease compared with 3.3% reporting very bad health and 8.7% reporting bad health.
There were only five local authorities where the proportion of people reporting very bad health increased (ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 percentage point increases). These were the Isles of Scilly (0.8%), Guildford (0.8%), Calderdale (1.3%), Mid Devon (1.0%) and South Cambridgeshire (0.8%).
The general health data for Wales showed increases in the proportion of people reporting very good or good health, and decreases in the other categories. There was:
- An increase of 0.9 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting very good health, from 45.7% (1.4 million) in 2011 to 46.6% (1.4 million) in 2021
- An increase of 1.1 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting good health, from 31.4% (953,000) in 2011 to 32.5% (1.0 million) in 2021
- A decrease of 0.9 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting fair health, from 15.0% (448,000) in 2011 to 14.1% (450,000) in 2021
- A decrease of 0.9 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting bad health, from 6.0% (178,000) in 2011 to 5.1% (164,000) in 2021
- A decrease of 0.3 percentage points in the proportion of people reporting very bad health, from 1.9% (55,000) in 2011 to 1.6% (52,000) in 2021
The local authorities with the highest proportion of people reporting very good health were Gwynedd (51.5%) and the Isle of Anglesey (50.7%). The lowest proportion was in Blaenau Gwent (41.5%), and the greatest increase was for Merthyr Tydfil (from 42.1% in 2011 to 44.6% in 2021).
Wales
Merthyr Tydfil was also the Welsh local authority with the highest proportion of people describing their health as very bad (2.4%). However, this was also the area with the largest decrease of people reporting very bad health (0.7 percentage point decrease, from 3.1% in 2011). Denbighshire (1.6%) was the only Welsh local authority which saw an increase in the proportion of people reporting very bad health, up from 1.5% in 2011.
The local authorities with the next highest proportions of people describing their health as very bad were Blaenau Gwent (2.3%) and Neath Port Talbot (2.1%). The lowest proportion of people reporting very bad health was for Gwynedd (1.0%).
Some of the local authorities in Wales with larger proportions of people reporting very bad health are also areas in which larger proportions of people provided unpaid care.
You can read the full details of the census reports here.
See also: Designing For An Ageing Society
