You asked

​I am trying to find out a total of how many people died of flu during the following winter periods in the UK.

2013/14

2014/15

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

We said

​Thank you for your request.

We are responsible for the provision of mortality statistics for England and Wales. Therefore, we do not hold influenza mortality data for the UK. 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 related to your request, which may be of interest:

The following dataset, Number of deaths where influenza was the underlying cause of death or was mentioned on the death certificate, by five-year age group, England and Wales, 2001 to 2016, was commissioned as a bespoke request and shows deaths from influenza by age-group in 2001 to 2016.

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 is coded under J09-J11.

  • 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-J11
  • Select format (Excel or CSV for example)

Provisional influenza and pneumonia figures 2020

Figure 2 of our deaths registered weekly bulletin shows the number of deaths from 2020 up to 22 January due to Influenza and Pneumonia and the number of deaths involving Influenza and Pneumonia. "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. I have summed the weekly totals for you for you:

  • Deaths involving Influenza and Pneumonia (underlying or secondary cause): 127,575
  • Deaths due to Influenza and Pneumonia (underlying cause): 21,614

In order to provide a breakdown of influenza deaths for England and Wales for the winter specifically, we would need to create bespoke analysis. Special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate). Such enquiries would fall outside of the Freedom of Information regime and should be made to Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.

If you would like to discuss your enquiry further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.