You asked
A simple question: what were the total number of deaths in UK for 2020?
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In collaboration with these organisations, we produce the following publication: Vital statistics in the UK: births, deaths and marriages. The latest finalised data we hold for the UK is for 2019.
However, whilst the data has not yet been finalised, all three organisations have produced blogs with year-end mortality figures for 2020. These have been summed together to provide the 2020 row of the following table. Please note, the figures for 2020 are provisional and are subject to change until the data are finalised in the summer of 2021. This to allow time for late registrations to be processed as a result of coroner's inquests.
| Year | UK | England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020* | 689,700 | 608,002* | 64.085* | 17,613* |
| 2019 | 604,707 | 530,841 | 58,108 | 15,758 |
| 2018 | 616,014 | 541,589 | 58,503 | 15,922 |
Download this table
.xls .csv*Source for provisional 2020 mortality totals in England and Wales: https://blog.ons.gov.uk/2021/01/12/counting-deaths-involving-coronavirus-a-year-in-review/
*Source for provisional 2020 mortality totals in Scotland (NRS): https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/covid19/annual-deaths-excess-deaths-1855-2020.xlsx
*Source for provisional 2020 mortality totals in Northern Ireland (NIRSA): https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/monthly-deaths
*Source for finalised 2018 and 2019 mortality totals: Vital statistics in the UK: births, deaths and marriages
For more information on late registrations and the median delay please see our Impact of registration delays on mortality statistics in England and Wales: 2019
Our User guide to mortality statistics provides information on data quality, legislation and procedures relating to deaths. It also provides details of the ONS short list of cause of death codes, using ICD-10, which may be of interest to you.