You asked
I am interested to see deaths by flu in the UK between 1950 and 2020 included. Preferably in an excel format.
Outright number would be useful but also expressed per 100,000 of population to.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
2008 mortality data broken down by week can be found in the following ad hoc dataset: Deaths registered weekly from 1993 to 2018 by region, England and Wales. This also provides data broken down by region for these weeks.
The current format of Deaths Registered Weekly in England and Wales is only available from 2010 to 2021. In order to provide 2008 mortality data broken down exactly as it is in this publication, we would need to be created as bespoke analysis. Such services fall outside of the Freedom of Information regime, and would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure controls, resources and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there may be a charge for this work which would be subject to our [charging policy](https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/whThank you for your request.
We are responsible for the provision of mortality statistics for England and Wales. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) the coded mortality data available up to end of December 2019 is coded to version 2014 of the ICD10 framework. From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:
a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or
b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury
2020 influenza deaths:
Analysis of deaths occurring between 1 January and 31 August 2020, including a split of flu and pneumonia figures for England and Wales and comparisons of deaths from COVID with deaths from flu and pneumonia are available via the following link: Deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19) compared with deaths from influenza and pneumonia, England and Wales. This publication states that between 1 January and 31 August 2020, there were 394 deaths due to influenza.
Figure 2 of our deaths registered weekly bulletin shows the number of deaths from 2020 up to 29 January due to influenza and pneumonia combined and the number of deaths involving influenza and pneumonia. "Due to" refers only to deaths where Influenza and Pneumonia was recorded as the underlying cause of death and "involving" referring to deaths that had Influenza and Pneumonia mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not.
Please see the 'download data' option at the bottom of Figure 2 for these statistics.
The following summed totals for 2020 have been taken from this publication:
- Deaths involving Influenza and Pneumonia (underlying or secondary cause): 133,294
- Deaths due to Influenza and Pneumonia (underlying cause): 21,912
Deaths from influenza only in England and Wales in 2020 will be published once data is finalised in the summer of 2021 in our Deaths registered series and on our NOMIS webservice.
Influenza deaths 1950 to 2019 in England and Wales:
We have also produced a back series as part of our 21st century mortality, which contains all-cause mortality data by ICD code, age and sex, 2001-2019 in England and Wales.
Additionally, here is a link to the national archives for 20th century historic all-cause data. These reference tables contain mortality data from 1901-2000.
The ICD codes used to code Influenza are J09-J11. You can search this in column A.
In order to provide influenza deaths per 100,000 of population for England and Wales, we would need to create bespoke analysis. Such services would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure controls, resources and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contacthealth.data@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there may be a charge for this work which would be subject to our charging policy.