Northerners 20% more likely to die before they're 75

People living in the north of England have a greater chance of dying under the age of 75 than those in the south, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Research from the universities of Manchester and York, based on official death records from 1965-2015, found northerners were 20 per cent more likely to die at a younger age.

"The problem is particularly stark among very young people," The Independent says. "There were 29 per cent more deaths among 25-34 year olds in the north in 2015, and a 35-44 year old is a full 49 per cent more likely to die suddenly if they live in the north rather than the south."

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The scientists did not examine the causes of death.

Lead researcher Iain Buchan said: "Five decades of death records tell a tale of two Englands, north and south, divided by resources and life expectancy - a profound inequality resistant to the public health interventions of successive governments".

An accompanying editorial in the British Medical Journal says the north-south health divide is at its widest for 40 years and warns "the north is being decimated at the rate of a major city every decade".