UK influenza statistics 2017 to 2022

FOI Ref: FOI/2023/4747

You asked

Please provide me with the UK Flu statistics over the past 5 years including the amount of deaths, ages of those that died and hospitalized cases.

Please start with the beginning of 2017 through to 2022.

Please ensure you do not include any Coronarvirus (COVID-19) statistics from 2020 - only flu.

We said

Thank you for your request.

Cases and hospitalisations due to influenza

We do not hold data relating to cases of influenza or hospitalisations involving influenza.

For hospitalisations, NHS Digital may be better placed to answer your enquiry. They can be contacted on enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk.

For cases of influenza, United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publish weekly surveillance reports for cases of influenza. For further information please contact InformationRights@UKHSA.gov.uk

Deaths due to influenza

We hold analysis of deaths registered where influenza is the underlying cause of death in England and Wales on our interactive webservice NOMIS for 2013 to 2021.

Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration.

All 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 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

The ICD-10 cause code for influenza is J09 – J11.

Please see the associated download showing deaths due to influenza by 5-year age group in England and Wales, including non-residents (Total Mortality). We have also included the number of non-residents included in Total Mortality:

• Select timeframe – 2013 to 2021
• Select the geography (England and Wales, regional or by local authority)
• Select Age – All ages or 5-year age bands
• Select Gender – Total or Male/Female
• Select rates – All deaths, rates or percentage of population for example
• Select cause of death (ICD10 code search is available)
• Select format (Excel or CSV for example)

We have also produced the following user requested data set Deaths due to and involving influenza or pneumonia, England and Wales: 2001 to 2021 registrations.

We have not conducted analysis of 2022 data; this will be published in July 2023 to allow the inclusion of late registrations.

However, we can provide this as a user requested data set using provisional data, however this is subject to change. We can also include in this dataset deaths where influenza is a contributory mention if requested.

User requested datasets are subject to disclosure control, legal frameworks, resources and agreement to costs under the ONS Charging policy.

For further information or to obtain a quote please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.