You asked
On the BBC news today they stated in 2020 there were in excess of 700,000 deaths. However as per your own website the figure up to Week 46 was 530,000 approx. Which figure is correct?
We said
Thank you for your request.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to find the news item to which you refer.
However, official death registration data for all causes of death, are only produced by us, National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NIRSA). Therefore, we would advise you to use only the data provided in the publications produced by these organisations.
Deaths registered in England and Wales in 2020 up to Week 46 can be found in our Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales publication. This publication shows that there were 529,928 deaths registered in England and Wales up to week ending 13 November 2020 (Week 46). These figures can be found in the reference table called '2020: up to week ending 1 January 2021' which is accessible here.
We are responsible for the provision of mortality data for England and Wales, based on the information collected at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In the same period, according to NRS and NIRSA, there were 55,866 deaths registered in Scotland and 15,330 deaths registered in Northern Ireland.
This gives a total of 601,124 deaths registered in the UK up to the end of Week 46.
If we look at the figures for the UK at the end of 2020 (up to week ending 1st January 2020, Week 53), then they are as follows:
614,114 Deaths registered in England and Wales
64,814 Deaths registered in Scotland
17,424 Deaths registered in Northern Ireland
This gives a total number of 696,352 deaths registered in the UK in 2020.
This number is provisional and may increase when data are finalised later this year, mainly due to late registrations. We will publish final death registrations for England and Wales in July 2021.
For any questions regarding data pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland, please contact NRS and NISRA at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic Public Health England and Department of Health and Social Care have also produced mortality statistics which are published via the government's COVID-19 dashboard.
These figures are based on different methodology and only focus on COVID-19. You can read a blog by Professor John Newton of Public Health England about the complexities of counting COVID-19 deaths and the different methods used. Please contact coronavirus-tracker@phe.gov.uk for queries about this data.