JSNA Blog - December

Welcome to the JSNA blog for December 2025

Snooks in Aldeburgh — Snooks the dog in Aldeburgh

As always, we welcome comments, feedback and suggestions.

Interested in finding out more about Snooks the dog? Have a look on the Aldeburgh Museum website.

We also welcome your photos of Suffolk to use in a future blog!

Email us at: knowledgeandIntelligence@suffolk.gov.uk

Indices of Deprivation 2025 - Suffolk summary

The Indices of Deprivation (IoD) are a vital lens for understanding inequality across England. They combine seven domains — into a single measure that ranks every neighbourhood by relative disadvantage (the Index of Multiple Deprivation or IMD). This matters because deprivation shapes life chances: from healthy life expectancy to educational outcomes. For Suffolk, where pockets of need can be hidden within rural areas, this data helps pinpoint where support is most needed - informing action to reduce health inequalities. Our recently published deprivation profile summarises the Suffolk data.

Take a look at the published information and view the mapped data on Suffolk's Local Insight platform: Local Insight

The English Indices of Deprivation (IoD) measure relative levels of deprivation in 33,755 small geographical neighbourhoods, called Lower-layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs), in England.
The average population of an LSOA in Suffolk is around 1,700 residents. LSOAs therefore tend to be small in urban areas, and much larger in sparsely populated rural regions.
The IoD is an important source of information to assist government, charities and organisations in guiding funding and support to local communities.
The IoD is formed of seven domains, these domains are brought together to form a composite Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). This is the most widely used of these indices.
The IoD is usually discussed in terms of ranks; how an area compares to another. This is often summarised as a decile (dividing the number of areas up into ten equal groups), or quintile (five equal groups). For example, if an area is ranked 25th out of 100, it will fall in the third decile, and second quintile.
It is important to note that these statistics are a measure of relative deprivation, not affluence, and to recognise that not every person in a highly deprived area will themselves be deprived. Likewise, there may be some people who live in the least deprived areas who experience deprivation.

Suffolk is ranked 100th out of 153 Upper Tier Local Authorities (UTLAs) in England by the 2025 IMD, where number 1 is most deprived. Suffolk is therefore just outside the top third of least deprived UTLAs in the country.
Suffolk is ranked as the 53rd least deprived upper tier local authority in England (out of 153), compared to 52nd of 151 in 2019. Suffolk’s relative deprivation compared to other county and unitary council areas is therefore almost entirely unchanged.
The number of Suffolk LSOAs among the most deprived 10% and 20% in England in 2025 remain similar to 2019. In 2019, there were 22 LSOAs in the most deprived 10% of English areas, and 50 in the most deprived 20%, compared to 23 and 53 respectively in 2025.
Areas of higher relative deprivation continue to be concentrated in Ipswich and Lowestoft, with smaller areas remaining in Beccles, Felixstowe, Stowmarket, and Bury St Edmunds.
However, parts of Kessingland, Newmarket, Mildenhall, Brandon, and an additional area of Bury St Edmunds are now also ranked among the 20% most deprived areas in England according to the 2025 IMD, a change from 2019.
Suffolk’s rurality continues to be the main driver of deprivation at county level. This has become relatively more acute since 2019. In 2025, Suffolk is ranked 42nd most deprived out of 153 local authorities in England by this measure, compared to 52nd out of 151 in 2019.
Relatively low education outcomes and adult skill levels also contribute to deprivation in the county. Suffolk has become relatively more deprived in this domain in 2025 (55th out of 153, compared to 57th out of 151 in 2019).

This map shows how deprivation is distributed across Suffolk in the 2025 Index of Multiple Deprivation. The most deprived areas (in red) remain concentrated in Ipswich and Lowestoft, with smaller clusters in Beccles, Felixstowe, Stowmarket, and Bury St Edmunds. Most rural areas appear in lighter colours, indicating lower overall deprivation, but Suffolk’s rurality still drives barriers to housing and access to services.

Health Literacy Profile

We have published a profile on health literacy as part of the JSNA.

Health literacy is about more than reading leaflets—it’s the ability to find, understand, and use health information to make decisions. It influences everything from medication safety to managing long-term conditions and accessing preventive care. Low health literacy is linked to poorer health, higher hospital admissions, and reduced life expectancy.

Estimates indicate geographic variation across Suffolk's districts and boroughs in relation to health literacy. Ipswich had the highest percentage of residents with low levels of health literacy in 2023 (43.6% - above the national average), while rural districts including Mid Suffolk (33.0%)and Babergh (33.6%) had lower percentages. However, these rural areas face compound disadvantages with some limited geographic access to key services such as GPs.

The profile asserts that people with high levels of health literacy are better able to:

Communicate their health needs and understand advice from professionals
Find and use health information in a range of formats
Navigate services and get appropriate support
Make informed decisions about their care and health behaviours
Exercise more control over the factors that influence their health

Improving health literacy is more than just supporting individuals – organisations themselves need to communicate clearly and consistently. Lasting change happens when health and care services make health literacy a part of everyday practice, backed by strong leadership. The Health Literate Organisation (HLO) programme shows how this can work in practice, combining staff training with service-user involvement and organisational commitment. Taking this approach gives communities a better chance of receiving information and support they can understand and act upon, reducing health inequalities over time.

View the profile and our other JSNA products using the JSNA searchable index below:

Recent national publications:

Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2025: infections: This report asserts that a greater focus on older adults is needed as they are at higher risk of mortality or significant ill health from infections. The report makes recommendations to the public, to doctors and other health care professionals and to government.
Independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism: terms of reference: This publication sets out the terms of reference for an independent review into the prevalence, trends and inequalities associated with mental health conditions, ADHD and autism in children, young people and adults.
Primary and community healthcare support for people living with frailty: Early identification of frailty and timely support can slow its progression, helping older people maintain independence and live healthier lives. This new report from the National Audit Office shows clear failings in how healthcare professionals, including GPs, assess and support people living with frailty - with unexplained variation in practice across England.
HIV Action Plan for England, 2025 to 2030: This plan sets out how the government will reach its ambition of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030.

This month the JSNA workplan is focused on:

Producing a healthy pregnancy profile
Finalising a Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) profile
Organising the structure of the Mental Health Needs Assessment
Organising the Annual Public Health Report 2025
Scoping new profiles on men's health, end of life, alcohol, substance misuse, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and respiratory health

The Suffolk Observatory

The Suffolk Observatory contains all Suffolk’s vital statistics. It is the one-stop-shop for data, statistics and reports all about Suffolk provided by a variety of organisations.

Through data, reports and analysis, the Suffolk Observatory provides a comprehensive picture of the county and is a great source for useful facts and figures that will help you write reports and presentations, inform strategic and business planning, prepare funding applications or support academic research.

Take a look at the SODA reports page for all the recent publications by the Suffolk Office of Data and Analytics.

JSNA Blog - December

Indices of Deprivation 2025 - Suffolk summary

More information:

What are the Indices of Deprivation?

Why it matters in Suffolk

Show me a map!

Health Literacy Profile

Recent national publications:

This month the JSNA workplan is focused on:

The Suffolk Observatory