Influenza deaths from 1999 to 2021

You asked

​I'd like to request information on influenza related deaths from January 1999 up until February 2021.

We said

Thank you for your request.

Unfortunately, we do not hold analysis showing deaths rates for solely influenza from January 1999 to February 2021.

We could provide you with a bespoke analysis for monthly/weekly influenza deaths from 1999 to 2019. Such analysis would fall outside of the Freedom of Information regime and would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure controls, resource and agreement of costs. Please see the following link for information about our charging policy.

We only currently hold provisional weekly deaths for influenza and pneumonia together, rather than just influenza. These figures run right through to week 5 of 2021. The following information is available from Figure 2 of Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional publication (download the data). This publication is updated every Tuesday.

1. Figures include deaths of non-residents.
2. Based on date a death was registered rather than occurred.
3. All figures for 2020 and 2021 are provisional.
4. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition (ICD-10) definitions are as follows: coronavirus (COVID-19) (U07.1 and U07.2) and Influenza and Pneumonia (J09-J18).
5. A death can be registered with both COVID-19 and Influenza and Pneumonia mentioned on the death certificate. Deaths where both were mentioned have been counted in both categories.
6. We use the term "due to COVID-19" or "due to Influenza and Pneumonia" when referring only to deaths where that illness was recorded as the underlying cause of death. We use the term "involving COVID-19" or "involving Influenza and Pneumonia" when referring to deaths that had that illness mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not.
7. The number of deaths registered in Weeks 19, 20, 22, 23, 36, 37, 52 and 53 were affected by the Early May, Late May, August, Christmas and New Year Bank Holidays (Friday 8 May 2020, Monday 25 May 2020, Monday 31 August 2020, Friday 25 December 2020, Monday 28 December 2020, Friday 1 January 2021); the impact of the Early May Bank Holiday was analysed in our Week 20 bulletin. (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending15may2020#deaths-registered-by-week).
8. The Week 52 five-year average is used to compare against Week 53 deaths.

Bespoke analysis for 2020 Mortality data, for example breakdowns by influenza only, will be available to commission once the annual data has been finalised in 2021.

We do publish annual deaths involving Influenza for England and Wales. These are available for 2013-2019 on our NOMIS Webservice using ICD-10 code J09-J11.

We also have the following user requested data sets:

Number of deaths where influenza was the underlying cause of death or was mentioned on the death certificate, by five-year age group, England and Wales, 2001 to 2016

Monthly number of death occurrences where influenza and pneumonia was the underlying cause of death, 2018 and 2019, England and Wales

If you would like any further information, please contact the following email address so that we may discuss your requirements further: health.data@ons.gov.uk.