Total deaths in the UK 2017 to 2020 and hospital admissions

You asked

​Please provide:

​2017 Total death toll for uk

2018 total death toll for uk

2019 total death toll for uk

2020 death total this far this year if not possible then January - October was be suffice

I also wish to see the data for hospital admissions for ST Johns hospital Livingston from December 2019 till present day.

We said

​Thank you for your enquiry.

We are primarily responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales. This is driven by information collected from the death certificate 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. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.

The following publication, Vital statistics in the UK: births, deaths and marriages, has headline figures for deaths for the UK.

Annual data: Deaths (numbers and rates: total, infant, neonatal)
United Kingdom and constituent countries

Sources: Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Released: 22 November 2019

UK figures for 2019 are provisionally scheduled to be published in January 2021.

As such, this information is exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.

This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest.This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.

For UK mortality totals in 2020, the only data we have available are headline figures for deaths from March to November as part of our work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This can be accessed via the the following link: Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional.

Unfortunately, we do not have access to hospital admissions and discharges, therefore we consider this information not held.

NHS Digital may be better placed to answer your query. They can be contacted via email at enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk, and by telephone at 0300 303 5678.