FOI Ref: FOI/2022/4347
You asked
Please send me the excess deaths per 100,000 for 2020 and 2021, and/or to date, for U.K. compared with European countries.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales. However, in collaboration with Eurostat (for European data), National Records Scotland (NRS), and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the following analysis has been created: Comparisons of all-cause mortality between European countries and regions. This provides mortality patterns and measures of excess mortality of selected European countries and regions in the week ending 3 January 2020 to the week ending 3 September 2021.
The next publication of this analysis is scheduled for release 29 September 2022 and will include rates for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and 30 EU and EFTA countries. It will also contain regions and sub regional analysis across Europe where data is available.
As such, the information you have requested for 2021 is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration, and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
In case it is of interest, we hold the following analysis for England and Wales:
The following publication, Excess deaths in England and Wales March 2021 to December 2021, provides the number of excess deaths, including deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and due to other causes. This includes breakdowns by age, sex and geography.
The following publication provides deaths registered in England and Wales in 2020 and how they compared with the five-year average (2015 to 2019), based on finalised 2020 mortality data. The figures are broken down by cause, place of death, age group, sex and deprivation: Excess deaths in England and Wales, 2020: Final - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).