FOI reference: FOI-2025-2994
You asked
Please provide the number of deaths registered each year in England and Wales from 2014 to 2024 where sepsis was recorded as the underlying cause of death.
Please provide a breakdown by calendar year, listing the total number of deaths where the underlying cause was coded as ICD-10:
- A40 (Streptococcal sepsis)
- A41 (Other sepsis)
If available, I would also appreciate it if you could include:
- A brief explanation of whether these figures reflect deaths registered in the year or occurring in the year
I understand that some of this data may already be publicly available via NOMIS or ad hoc tables, but I have not been able to locate a consistent, year-by-year breakdown for the full 2013--2022 range specifically for underlying cause of death due to sepsis.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality and births statistics. These are derived from information collected at the registration of death. This includes details from both the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) and the official registration record.
All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). 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 World Health Organisation (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
Our interactive web service, Nomis – Official Census and Labour Market Statistics provides deaths by underlying cause, age and location from 2013 to 2023.
The associated download provides an extract from Nomis, showing deaths registered where ICD-10 code A40 or A41 were the underlying cause in England and Wales (including non-residents) for 2013 to 2023.
If you would like to vary the Nomis data provided, please follow the instructions:
select query qata
select life events
select mortality statistics – underlying cause sex and age
select geography (this can be at local authority level, MSOA, regional, or national level
select date range from 2013 to 2023
select age range – total, or 5-year age bands
select total deaths or rates (this will give you total deaths and rates per population)
select sex
select cause; here you can select all causes, or by leading cause groups, or by individual ICD-10 code
check summary of your selections
select output file type
download data
We also have the following user requested datasets, which provide some of the information requested.
Deaths involving sepsis, England and Wales: 2001 to 2023
This uses death registrations (date of registration) and includes mentions and underlying cause on the death certificate.
Number of deaths relating to sepsis, by place of death, regions of England and Wales, deaths registered in 2018
This uses death registrations (date of registration) and includes mentions and underlying cause on the death certificate.
2024
As of now, only summary statistics have been published for 2024, indicating that 4,372 deaths were registered in England and Wales where the underlying cause was classified under ICD-10 codes A40 and A41 combined.
The Deaths Registered Series 2024 is provisionally scheduled to be published in October 2025, with the data also being made available in Nmis at this time.
If Nomis and the user requested datasets do not meet your needs, we could look into producing a bespoke dataset. This, along with other special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order, subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs in line with the ONS charging policy.
For further information on this service, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.
As this information is reasonably accessible through another route, Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
Lawrlwyth cysylltiol ar cais
- Sepsis deaths, 2014 to 2024 (18.8 kB xlsx)