COVID-19 and all cause deaths 2019, 2020 and 2021

FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3123

You asked

​Please supply the following information:

​1) How many people have passed away in the UK between 2019 and the date to which this request was made or the closest date you can give in 2021.

2) The total number of covid deaths in the UK between 2020 and the same for 2021, once again to the closest date you can at the time of this request.

If the totals could be split year on year that would be fantastic.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

We are 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.

However, we do publish headline mortality figures for the United Kingdom for all cause deaths and provisional headline data for COVID-19 deaths in collaboration with NRS and NISRA.

Deaths registered in United Kingdom 2019

We hold the following analysis as part of our Vital Statistics in the UK publication.

We will publish UK headline data for 2020 data in December 2021. As such, the information you have requested is considered 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.

Deaths registered in England and Wales 2020

We hold the following analysis for 2020 in the Deaths Registered Series. In 2020, there were 607,922 deaths registered in England and Wales, 567,000 registered in England, 37,399 registered in Wales and 823 non-residents.

Deaths registered in England and Wales 2021

We publish provisional mortality data for 2021 in the Deaths Registered Weekly in England and Wales publication which is updated every Tuesday. To note, we do not hold this information for NRS and NISRA. They will need to be contacted separately.

As of 29 October, which is the latest data available there have been 481,250 deaths registered in England and Wales of which 29,458 have been registered in Wales. This figure does not include deaths of those resident outside England and Wales or those records where the place of residence is either missing or not yet fully coded. For this reason, counts for "Deaths by Region of usual residence" may not sum to "Total deaths, all ages".

Deaths registered involving COVID-19 in England and Wales 2020

We hold the following analysis, Deaths due to COVID-19, registered in England and Wales: 2020. We use the term "due to COVID-19" when referring only to deaths with an underlying cause of death as COVID-19 and we use the term "involving COVID-19"when referring to deaths that had COVID-19 mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not.

Figures for "England and Wales" include non-residents. Therefore, the sum of "England" and "Wales", which exclude non-residents, will differ from "England and Wales".

Deaths registered involving COVID-19 in United Kingdom 2021

We publish provisional mortality data for 2021 in the Deaths Registered Weekly in England and Wales publication which is updated every Tuesday.

As of 29 October, which is the latest data available there have been 75,345 deaths registered in United Kingdom.

• England and Wales (including non-residents) 68,565
• England 64,759
• Wales 3,658
• Scotland 4,970
• Northern Ireland 8,10

UK totals are calculated using the numbers of deaths of usual residents of each of the 4 countries, including any deaths of non-residents that were registered in the UK. Deaths of non-residents are excluded from the separate "England" and "Wales" breakdowns, so the sum of these 2 countries may differ from the "England and Wales" total. Deaths of non-residents have been included for the specific Scotland and Northern Ireland country breakdowns to ensure consistency with data published by NRS and NISRA.

For further information, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.