You asked
Please confirm the following statistics for the UK :
1. The year on year numbers of deaths attributed to Influenza/Pneumonia ONLY for the last 5 years (2016 to 2020 inclusive)
2. The year on year numbers of deaths attributed to Influenza/Pneumonia with underlying health conditions for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive.
3a. The average age of death for Influenza / Pneumonia ONLY cases (year on year) for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive
3b. The average age of death for Influenza / Pneumonia cases (year on year) with underlying health conditions for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive
4. The year on year numbers of deaths attributed to COVID/SARS ONLY for the last 5 years (2016 to 2020 inclusive)
5. The year on year numbers of deaths attributed to COVID/SARS with underlying health conditions for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive.
6a. The average age of death for COVID/SARS ONLY cases (year on year) for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive
6b. The average age of death for COVID/SARS cases with underlying health conditions (year on year) for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive
We said
Thank you for your request.
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. Therefore, we do not hold mortality data showing cause of deaths for Scotland and Northern Ireland. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the 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, please see the following analysis we have available relating to your request for England and Wales.
All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) the coded mortality data available up to end of December 2019 is coded to version 2014 of the ICD10 framework. 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
1. Deaths attributed to Influenza/Pneumonia ONLY for the last 5 years (2016 to 2020)
Annual figures for deaths from influenza in from 2013 - 2019 can be accessed through our explorable dataset available on our NOMIS webservice, accessible via the following link: NOMIS webservice. Influenza and Pneumonia are coded under J09-J18.
- 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). J09-J18
- Select format (Excel or CSV for example)
Figure 2 of our deaths registered weekly bulletin shows the combined number of deaths due to influenza and pneumonia and the number of deaths involving influenza and pneumonia from 1 January 2020 up to 29 January 2021.
"Due to" refers only to deaths where influenza and pneumonia was recorded as the underlying cause of death and "involving" referring to deaths that had influenza and pneumonia mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not.
Please see the 'download data' option at the bottom of Figure 2 for these statistics.
The following figures are the weekly totals summed from this publication:
- Deaths involving Influenza and Pneumonia (underlying or secondary cause): 133,294
- Deaths due to Influenza and Pneumonia (underlying cause): 21,912
Requests 2, 3a and 3b
Unfortunately we do not currently hold any analysis relating to questions 2, 3a and 3b for the UK or for England and Wales.
4. The year on year numbers of deaths attributed to COVID/SARS ONLY for the last 5 years (2016 to 2020 inclusive)
Prior to 2020 we did not collect data for deaths attributed to COVID-19/SARS. COVID-19 is defined by the emergency ICD-10 codes U.701 and U.702. Figure 2 of our deaths registered weekly bulletin shows deaths 'due to' and 'involving' COVID-19 from 2020 up to 29January. Here are the figures below:
- Deaths involving COVID-19 (underlying or secondary cause): 110,987
- Deaths due to COVID-19 (underlying cause): 100,523
5. The year on year numbers of deaths attributed to COVID/SARS with underlying health conditions for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive.
We have produced Deaths involving COVID-19, England and Wales in the response to COVID-19. This publication provides a greater insight into the leading underlying causes of death groups for deaths occurring in England and Wales between March and June 2020.
We define a pre-existing condition here as the last health condition mentioned on the first part of the death certificate when it came before the coronavirus (COVID-19) or was an independent contributory factor in the death, mentioned in part II. Where only COVID-19 was recorded on the death certificate, or COVID-19 and subsequent conditions caused by COVID-19 were recorded, we refer to these deaths as having "No pre-existing conditions". Please see table 5 for leading causes of death involving COVID-19, England and Wales.
This publication had been paused in the summer of 2020 due to the decrease in the number of deaths. These figures will now be included in our Deaths registered monthly in England and Wales starting 26 February 2021
6a. The average age of death for COVID/SARS ONLY cases (year on year) for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive
The data requested is not something we produce as part of our standard outputs. However, we have produced COVID-19 average age of death calculations as part of a user requested ad hoc.
6b. The average age of death for COVID/SARS cases with underlying health conditions (year on year) for the period 2016 to 2020 inclusive
As stated in the response to request 5, this publication had been paused in the summer of 2020 due to the decrease in the number of deaths. However, COVID-19 by underlying health conditions and age will now be included in our Deaths registered monthly in England and Wales starting 26 February 2021.
If you would like to discuss these statistics further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.