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Life expectancy for people who identify as gay, bisexual or another sexual orientation in England and Wales was approximately a year lower than their heterosexual counterparts, according to the first analysis of its kind by the Office for National Statistics.
The life expectancy for men who identified as LGB+ was 1.2 years lower than men who identified as straight, at 59.4 years and 60.7 years respectively.
For women, the life expectancy for those identifying as LGB+ was 0.9 years lower, compared with women who identified as straight, at 63.0 and 64.0 years respectively.
Broken down by sexuality, the life expectancy for men and women who identify as gay or lesbian was 59.3 years and 62.8 years respectively.
For people identifying as bisexual, life expectancy was 59.6 years for men and 62.9 years for women.
Greg Ceely, the head of population life events at the ONS, said: “People who identified as gay or lesbian had a slightly lower life expectancy than those identifying as straight or heterosexual. Life expectancy can be impacted by a range of factors, so we can’t tell from this analysis whether sexual orientation is the driver of the difference seen.”
Laia Becares, professor of social science and health at King’s College London, said: “Sexual orientation itself is not a risk factor, but the way sexual minority people are treated in society is.”
Last month, ONS analysis found that LGB+ people in England and Wales were more likely to die from suicide, alcohol-related disease and drug overdose than straight people.
“Experiencing discrimination and exclusion is associated with increased stress, smoking and drug use, all of which sexual minority people have been found to be more likely to engage in,” Becares said.
Using data from the 2021 census and death registrations, these findings are the first time the ONS has looked at how life expectancy differs by sexual orientation. The data is experimental, and life expectancy was estimated from age 20, since only individuals aged 16 or over were asked the sexual orientation question in the census.
The ONS was unable to look at gender identity in this analysis, due to “uncertainty associated with the responses” to questions around gender identity in the 2021 census.
