The census provides information that Government needs asking questions about you, your household, and your home, and the latest one was conducted in 2021, with the results just being released.
The census provides the most detailed picture of the entire population, with the same core questions asked to everybody across England and Wales.
The general health question included “How is your health in general?” with response options including either “very good”, “good”, “fair”, “bad”, or “very bad”.
In England, 47.1 per cent of females and 47.9 per cent of males reported their general health as “very good”, and the data shows an increase in the number of both males and females reporting “very good” health between 2011 and 2021.
What ages are people the healthiest or unhealthiest?
According to the census, the results were unsurprising, with children being the healthiest, and over-90s having the worst health.
Those aged up to four were the healthiest. Between the ages of five to nine years, health slightly decreased but still remained among the healthiest age groups for both males and females.
Those aged 90 and over were more likely to describe their health as very bad.
What are the healthiest and unhealthiest areas?
The South East of England had the highest percentage of people who reported being in very good health (49.6 per cent).
The North East of England had the lowest (44.7 per cent).
London saw the largest increase in levels of very good health between 2011 and 2021 (from 44.5 per cent to 49.0 per cent).
What are the differences between men and women’s health?
Between the ages of 50 to 54 years and 80 to 84 years, males were more likely to report being in good health than other health groups (a range of 37.4 per cent to 43.4 per cent rated their health as good across these age groups).
A lower proportion of males (44.7 per cent) than females (47.1 per cent) reported their health as fair at age 90 years and over.
