Where to find statistics on UK deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) and infection rates by country

The recording of coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths and infections is a complex picture for the UK. The recording of health and death statistics in the UK is devolved, with information being produced on a number of government websites. This page has been created to provide links to COVID-19-related statistics across the UK to help users to find the data and information they want. These include deaths involving COVID-19 and infection rates.

There are two broad ways of counting COVID-19 deaths across the UK: statistics reported through health and care organisations, usually focused on cases where a positive test for COVID-19 has been confirmed, and statistics reported through the process of death registration, where COVID-19 is mentioned on the death certificate.

There are differences in coverage and timeliness of the various sources of data. To assist in providing an understanding of some of these differences, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in conjunction with relevant government agencies, have published transparency statements on the different uses of figures on deaths from COVID-19 published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the ONS and on the statistics on deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes in England.

Please note this page is not static. It will be updated to reflect any changes in the content it links to.

Statistics on coronavirus (COVID-19) cases (infections) and deaths are available at the UK level to provide a broad picture of how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the UK.

Released daily

COVID-19 in the UK: daily cases and risk level
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) publishes daily surveillance figures on COVID-19 infections and COVID-19 deaths for the UK as a whole and its constituent countries. The statistics are compiled by data provided to DHSC from public health bodies across the devolved nations. For deaths, the statistics are based on occurrences in all settings, not just in hospitals, and include those with a positive test for COVID-19.

COVID-19 in the UK: daily
Public Health England produces a dashboard that breaks the figures down by constituent country of the UK, regions and local authority. The sources of data are the same as those in the DHSC publication, but this source provides more detail.

Released weekly

Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional
A UK week-on-week comparison of COVID-19 deaths is included in Section 7 of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) weekly deaths for England and Wales publication. The accompanying data tables now also include a breakdown of data based on death registrations for each of the four constituent countries of the UK.

Released daily

Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK: daily
This is the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK daily update from Public Health England referred to in Section 2. It includes a breakdown of deaths and laboratory-confirmed case counts for England and each English region. It also includes a UK overview based on data received by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) from the devolved administrations.

COVID-19 daily deaths in England
NHS England publishes figures of the number of people who have died in hospitals in England and had tested positive for COVID-19 at time of death or where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Released weekly

Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes weekly deaths for England and Wales based on death registrations. The dataset contains breakdowns of data by place of death, region and age groups. Figures are presented by date of registration and separately by date of occurrence of death. The dataset also includes a breakdown of data published for each of the four constituent countries of the UK.

Comparison of weekly death occurrences in England and Wales
This short article accompanies the weekly ONS deaths release and explains the differences between various data sources that report on COVID-19 deaths and includes more detailed information on deaths in care homes from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Care Inspectorate Wales.

Weekly COVID-19 surveillance report
Public Health England summarises weekly information from the surveillance systems that are used to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic in England, including deaths.

Deaths in care homes notified to the CQC in England
The ONS and the CQC publish provisional counts of deaths involving COVID-19 among care home residents based on required notification by care home providers to the CQC.

Weekly COVID-19 outbreaks in care homes
Public Health England publishes the number and percentage of care homes reporting a suspected or confirmed outbreak of COVID-19 by local authorities, regions and Public Health England centres.

Released daily

Coronavirus (COVID-19): daily data for Scotland
The Scottish Government publishes a daily estimate of coronavirus (COVID-19) tests carried out and their outcomes, including number of patients in hospitals. This includes a cumulative number of deaths of those who had tested positive.

Coronavirus: daily summary of cases and deaths
Public Health Scotland also produces a daily summary of COVID-19 cases and deaths to complement the daily Scottish Government publication.

Released weekly

Deaths involving COVID-19 in Scotland
The National Records of Scotland (NRS) produces a weekly update of deaths related to COVID-19 in Scotland based on death registrations. These are updated every Wednesday and include all deaths where COVID-19 (including suspected cases) was mentioned on the death certificate.

Please note that this is last weekly publication. Starting 16 September, it will be published on a monthly basis.

Released daily

Rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) surveillance
Public Health Wales publishes a daily update on the cases of newly reported and cumulative deaths total. The figures include those who were hospitalised or care home residents where a positive coronavirus (COVID-19) test has been confirmed and clinicians suspect that it was the causative factor.

Released weekly

Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes weekly deaths for England and Wales based on death registrations. The dataset contains breakdowns of data by place of death, region and age groups. The dataset also includes a breakdown of data published for each of the four constituent countries of the UK.

Comparison of weekly death occurrences in England and Wales
This short article accompanies the weekly deaths release and explains the differences between various data sources that report on COVID-19 deaths and includes more detailed information on deaths in care homes from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Care Inspectorate Wales.

NHS activity and capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic
The weekly Welsh Government publication on NHS activity and capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic includes number of cases, deaths and hospitalisations, among other statistics.

Deaths in care homes notified to the Care Inspectorate Wales

The Welsh Government publishes counts of deaths involving COVID-19 among care home residents based on required notification by care home providers to Care Inspectorate Wales.

Released daily

Coronavirus (COVID-19) surveillance statistics

The Department of Health (DoH) in Northern Ireland publishes daily coronavirus (COVID-19) surveillance statistics for Northern Ireland. These statistics include the number of new cases and deaths where there was a positive test (in the previous 28 days) as well as the cumulative total broken down by date, gender, age group, local government district and place of death (hospital, care home or community) by date. Information on tests, including the number of positive tests in the last 7 and 14 days for each local government district, hospital admissions, hospital capacity and outbreaks in care homes, is also included on the dashboard.

Released weekly

Deaths registered weekly in Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) publishes provisional weekly death statistics based on death registrations. The statistics include all deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. Breakdowns are available by date of occurrence, place of death (hospital, care home, hospice, or residential address or other), place of usual residence (hospital or elsewhere), sex, age group and local government district. The registered deaths figures (by date of registration and date of occurrence) are compared with the daily surveillance figures published by the DoH.

Released monthly

Deaths registered in Northern Ireland – further analysis

Additional analysis of death statistics based on death registrations is published by NISRA on an ad-hoc basis. These publications include provisional age-standardised rates of COVID-19-related deaths (1 March to 31 May) and an analysis of excess deaths (1 March to 30 June). Breakdowns of COVID-19-related deaths (all deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate) are provided by date of occurrence, place of death (hospital, care home, hospice, or residential address or other), place of usual residence (hospital or elsewhere), sex, age group and local government district.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Monthly Epidemiological Bulletin

The Public Health Agency (PHA) publishes a monthly summary of information from health protection surveillance and notification systems in Northern Ireland. This includes laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases by date, age, sex, geographic location and deprivation. Information on confirmed or suspected COVID-19 care home outbreaks, primary care consultations, critical care admissions, mortality surveillance (deaths and excess deaths based on registered deaths) and COVID-19 testing is also included.