FOI Ref: FOI/2022/3476
You asked
Please supply the excess deaths for December 2021 compared with last 10 years (2011 - 2021).
We said
Thank you for your enquiry regarding excess deaths.
As part of our Monthly Mortality analysis, we publish excess deaths against the 5-year average. For 2021 data, we use 2015 -- 2019 data for the 5-year average.
Based on provisional data, there were 49,428 deaths registered in England in December 2021. This was 3,232 fewer deaths than in December 2020 and 7,346 deaths more than the 2015 to 2019 five-year average (17.5% higher).
We have provided the number of registered deaths in England and Wales in December from 2011 to 2021 below.
| Period | Number of deaths | Rate per 100,000 population | Lower confidence limit | Upper confidence limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | 49,428 | 1,033.5 | 1,024.4 | 1,042.6 |
| December 2020 | 52,660 | 1,126.3 | 1,116.6 | 1,135.9 |
| December 2019 | 44,286 | 959.8 | 950.8 | 968.7 |
| December 2018 | 38,710 | 853.7 | 845.2 | 862.3 |
| December 2017 | 42,295 | 950.2 | 941.2 | 959.3 |
| December 2016 | 42,624 | 975.9 | 966.6 | 985.2 |
| December 2015 | 42,495 | 988.4 | 979.0 | 997.9 |
| December 2014 | 46,481 | 1,099.1 | 1,089.1 | 1,109.1 |
| December 2013 | 39,974 | 962.4 | 952.9 | 971.9 |
| December 2012 | 39,669 | 977.2 | 967.5 | 986.8 |
| December 2011 | 40,744 | 1,021.4 | 1,011.5 | 1,031.4 |
Download this table Table 1: Age-standardised mortality rates, deaths registered in December 2001 to December 2021, England
.xls .csv
| Period | Number of deaths | Rate per 100,000 population | Lower confidence limit | Upper confidence limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | 3,336 | 1,146.5 | 1,107.4 | 1,185.6 |
| December 2020 | 3,941 | 1,374.8 | 1,331.8 | 1,417.9 |
| December 2019 | 3,090 | 1,091.5 | 1,052.9 | 1,130.1 |
| December 2018 | 2,720 | 976.3 | 939.5 | 1,013.1 |
| December 2017 | 2,757 | 1,004.6 | 967.0 | 1,042.2 |
| December 2016 | 2,845 | 1,057.9 | 1,018.9 | 1,096.9 |
| December 2015 | 2,917 | 1,092.7 | 1,052.9 | 1,132.5 |
| December 2014 | 3,183 | 1,204.5 | 1,162.5 | 1,246.4 |
| December 2013 | 2,732 | 1,052.9 | 1,013.2 | 1,092.5 |
| December 2012 | 2,788 | 1,093.6 | 1,052.8 | 1,134.3 |
| December 2011 | 2,730 | 1,083.0 | 1,042.2 | 1,123.8 |
Download this table Table 2: Age-standardised mortality rates, deaths registered in December 2001 to December 2021, Wales 1,2,3,4,5
.xls .csvNotes:
- Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 people, standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population. Monthly rates in this bulletin are adjusted to allow for comparisons with annual rates. For more information, see our methodology article.
- Figures are for deaths registered rather than deaths occurring in each period.
- Figures for 2021 are based on provisional mortality data. This table was revised in the August 2021 edition; please see the information tab for further detail on revisions to this analysis.
- Figures exclude non-residents.
- The lower and upper 95% confidence limits have been provided. These form a confidence interval, which is a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and shows the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures.