More than a million fewer people gained health benefits from spending time in nature in 2022 than during the height of the pandemic.
This is according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which found an estimated 1.1 million fewer people across the UK gained health benefits from spending time in nature in 2022 than when compared with two years earlier.
The value of those lost health benefits was estimated to be around £390m, equivalent to £356 per person on average.
The figure is based on the amount the NHS would be willing to spend if it used treatments to achieve equivalent health benefits to those gained from time spent in nature.
The drop in health benefits was also equivalent to more than 22,000 years of life in perfect health lost across people in the UK.
The trend was attributed to a drop in the number of visits to – and time spent in – nature over the last two years.
The ONS added while the number of visits has now returned to levels last seen in 2019, they remain significantly down from a pandemic-led peak in 2020.
The findings form part of the ONS’s UK natural capital accounts: 2023, which estimate the value of our natural wealth, and what it provides for future generations.