The Government Actuary's Department was formerly responsible for producing national life tables, which give statistics on expectation of life. Every ten years the department prepared a set of graduated (smoothed) life tables for England & Wales (known as the English Life Tables) and for Scotland. Each year ungraduated interim life tables were produced for the United Kingdom and each of its constituent countries, on a three-year average basis.

On 31 January 2006, responsibility for the production of national life tables transferred to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Current and historic life tables are still available on the GAD website.