White Britons are dying at a higher rate than ethnic minorities due to their drinking and smoking habits, new figures reveal.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), white Britons died in greater numbers than any other ethnic group in almost all towns, cities and towns in the UK between March 2021 and May 2023.
People of Bangladeshi origin living in smaller towns and cities were the only exception to the rule.
For example, in London data suggested that 963 white Britons out of a group of 100,000 would die in a year.
In a group of 100,000 people of Pakistani descent, who had the second highest mortality rate, 834 would die.
Given that smoking and drinking is much more common among white Britons than among people from ethnic minorities, experts said the disparity can be attributed, at least in part, to this lifestyle (file image)
For those of Chinese ethnicity, 612 in every 100,000 die on average in a year, more than a third fewer than white British people.
Controls for age differences and the absolute number of people in each ethnic group were included in the data, meaning that mortality was not higher simply because there are more white British people in the UK.
Given that smoking and drinking is much more common among white Britons than among people from ethnic minorities, experts said the disparity can be attributed, at least in part, to this lifestyle.
Veena Raleigh, an epidemiologist and senior researcher at the King’s Fund, said The telegraph: ‘Generally speaking, we find that minority ethnic 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.
‘In terms of smoking, rates are much lower in women from ethnic minority backgrounds and particularly in South Asian groups. “So there’s definitely a strong cultural factor there and also (in relation to) alcohol consumption.”
Ms Raleigh noted that people who migrate often tend to be “healthier and fitter”.
However, over time these differences fade and immigrants and descendants of immigrants end up adopting lifestyles similar to white British people.
Ms Raleigh said: “This is evident in second generation minority ethnic groups born in the UK. People change their lifestyles over time. They may start to smoke more etc.
The pattern of white people dying at higher rates in Britain goes back many years and was only disrupted during Covid when ethnic minorities died at a higher rate.
White people in Britain are dying at a higher rate than ethnic minorities due to their drinking and smoking habits (file image)
Ms Raleigh said: “The way you can look at the mortality data is that white British people tend to have higher mortality from several of the leading causes of death, such as cancer and dementia, while ethnic minorities “They have much lower rates of death or cancer and dementia.”
Separate research has also found that people of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin die at higher rates from many individual conditions such as diabetes, stroke and chronic kidney disease.
Although higher smoking and alcohol consumption among white Britons is blamed for the disparity in mortality compared to other ethnic groups, overall data shows that both habits are in general decline in the UK.
Other ONS data shows that the percentage of Britons who now smoke has fallen to around 12 per cent, a far cry from the 46 per cent recorded in the 1970s.
Separate data from the World Health Organization shows that the amount of pure alcohol the average Briton drinks each year is now 9.75.
Although still higher than estimates for the 1960s, the figure represents a reduction from the peak of 11.41 recorded in 2004.
Both drinking and smoking have been linked to an increased risk of multiple cancers, as well as other serious health conditions, such as dementia.