"there is definitely a strong cultural factor there"
White Brits are dying faster than other ethnic groups.
Analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found White Britons were dying in higher numbers than any other ethnic group in almost every town, city and village in the UK from March 2021 to May 2023.
The only exceptions were people from Bangladeshi backgrounds in smaller towns and cities.
In London, data suggest that 963 White Brits out of a group of 100,000 would die in a year.
People of Pakistani heritage had the second highest mortality rate and in a group of 100,000 people, 834 would die.
For those of Chinese ethnicity, 612 out of 100,000 on average die in a year.
Controls for differences in age and the absolute number of people in each ethnic group were put on the data, meaning mortality wasn’t higher simply because there are more white Brits in the UK.
Smoking and drinking are far more common among White Brits and experts said the higher mortality rates can partially be blamed on this lifestyle.
Epidemiologist Veena Raleigh said: “Broadly speaking we find that ethnic minority groups in the UK have lower mortality and therefore higher life expectancy than the white British population.
“They have lower rates of smoking and alcohol consumption, so they have slightly better lifestyles.
“For smoking, the rates are much lower in ethnic minority women, and in particular South Asian groups.
“So there is definitely a strong cultural factor there and also [in relation to] alcohol consumption.”
Ms Raleigh pointed out that people who migrate often are usually “more healthy and fit”.
But over time these differences fade and ethnic minorities eventually adopt similar lifestyles to White British people.
Ms Raleigh said: “This is apparent in second-generation, UK-born ethnic minority groups.
“People change their lifestyles over time. They may take up more smoking and so on.”
White Brits dying at higher rates has been an ongoing trend.
This was disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic when ethnic minorities died at a greater rate.
Ms Raleigh said: “The way you can unpick the mortality data is the white British tend to have higher mortality from several leading causes of death like cancer and dementia whereas ethnic minorities have much lower rates of death or cancer and dementia.”
Additional research has found that Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage people die at higher rates from many individual conditions like diabetes, strokes and chronic kidney disease.
Although higher rates of smoking and drinking among White Britons have been cited as contributing factors to disparities in mortality compared to other ethnic groups, overall data indicates that both habits are in decline across the UK.
ONS says the percentage of Britons who smoke has dropped to around 12%, a significant decrease from the 46% recorded in the 1970s.
World Health Organisation data also reveals that the average annual alcohol consumption in the UK is now 9.75 litres of pure alcohol per person.
While this is still higher than estimates from the 1960s, it marks a decline from the peak of 11.41 litres per person in 2004.
Both smoking and drinking have been associated with an increased risk of multiple cancers and other serious health conditions, including dementia.
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