The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported a decline in life expectancy among men for the first time since the figures began being collected in the 1980s.

Overall average life expectancy at birth fell by 7.8 weeks in England and 11 weeks in Scotland between 2018 and 2020.

Male life expectancy has fallen back to 79 years, a level last reported for 2012 to 2014. This is the first time the ONS has seen a decline when comparing non-overlapping time periods since the series began in the 1980s.

Female life expectancy was 82.9 years, virtually no improvement compared to 2015 to 2017.

The life expectancy figures are the first from the ONS to include some of the impact from the Coronavirus pandemic.

Life expectancy fell across most regions of England, but feel faster in areas of the country hit harder by the Coronavirus pandemic, showing that the pandemic appears to be the primary cause for the drop in life expectancy.

Men born in the North East of England saw the highest fall with a 16.7 week fall in average life expectancy. Women born in the North East have sen their life expectancy decline 4.2 weeks.

Not all areas of the country saw a decline. Males born in the South West saw a 5.7 week life expectancy improvement. Women born in the South West can now expect to life 17.7 weeks longer than in 2015-17.

Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at investment platform AJ Bell, said the life expectancy figures could heap pressure on the Government to rethink the planned increase in the State Pension age from 66 to 67 in 2028.

He said: “The vast differences in life expectancy in different parts of the UK will likely reignite the debate around the flexibility of the state pension system.

“The current framework means you cannot access the state pension until you hit state pension age, meaning those with lower average life expectancy can expect to receive less from the state in retirement on average. One idea often floated is to allow people to access their state pension early but at a reduced rate. This could help certain groups who might expect to live less long, although care would need to be taken not to heap more complexity onto what is already a complicated system.

“Given the catastrophic impact COVID has had on all of our lives – and in particular to life expectancy – it makes sense to begin this debate now. State pension age changes have been planned for a long time and were designed to reflect longer-term improvements in life expectancy.

“Rowing back on the hike would undoubtedly be popular but would also cost the Treasury billions of pounds at a time when public finances are already stretched to breaking point.”

According to the ONS data, the number of centenarians in the UK rose to its highest ever level in 2020, reaching 15,120, an increase of almost a fifth from last year.

In 2020, the population aged 90 years and over in the UK continued to grow, but at a slower rate. It increased by 0.7% from 2019. compared with a 3.6% increase in the previous year.

Rosie Hooper, Chartered Financial Planner at Quilter, said this rise illustrates the importance of retirement planning.

She said: "Although some statistics show that life expectancy is starting to plateau in its growth, we should not be under the illusion that we are going to start seeing a drastic decline in how long most live. Other ONS statistics out today, show that life expectancy at age 65 was 18.5 years for males and 21.0 years for females, which represents a long period of time to fund without an income. These estimates are very similar to those for 2015 to 2017 and with only a slight decline of 1.0 weeks for males and an increase of 3.1 weeks for females. Therefore, don’t be fooled by the drop in life expectancy, as there is still a good chance you will need the money well into your 80s if not longer.

"In fact, life expectancy tends to increase in bursts rather than in a linear fashion, with the bursts corresponding to medical breakthroughs. What this means is that everyone should plan their retirement around the very realistic possibility of living to 100."