All deaths in 2020 broken down by leading ICD-10 code

Release date:
5 February 2021

You asked

​​I am aware of this data set: "Death registrations not involving coronavirus (COVID-19): England and Wales"  https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathregistrationsnotinvolvingcoronaviruscovid19englandandwales

Could you please supply a complete set for the entirety of 2020:

"ALL" deaths registered in England and Wales, registrations by underlying cause of death using leading cause groupings.

Please supply the information in the same manner as the above example and 5 year average 2015-2019 for equivalent weeks.

We said

Thank you for your request.

We have discontinued the following dataset referenced in your request: Death registrations not involving Coronavirus in England and Wales.

This has been replaced by our Monthly Mortality analysis, which provides leading cause breakdown by month and year to date. The following table has been taken from this publication:

Table 11a: Age-standardised mortality rate for selected leading causes of death, per 100,000 people, England, deaths registered in December 2020 and year to date compared with the five-year average
Year to date (1 January to 31 December 2020)
Cause:Rank in year to dateNumber of deathsRate per 100,000 population
Top ten leading causes of death in year to date 2020​​​
COVID-191st 69,101125.5
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease2nd 66,060119.5
Ischaemic heart diseases3rd 51,97994.9
Cerebrovascular diseases4th 27,68150.3
Chronic lower respiratory diseases5th 26,91749.4
Malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung6th 26,57148.4
Influenza and pneumonia7th 18,65634.0
Malignant neoplasm of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus8th 15,96029.5
Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions9th 14,38526.2
Malignant neoplasms, stated or presumed to be primary of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue10th 11,10920.2
COVID-19 in year to date 2020​​​
COVID-191st69,101125.5

Download this table Table 11a: Age-standardised mortality rate for selected leading causes of death, per 100,000 people, England, deaths registered in December 2020 and year to date compared with the five-year average

.xls .csv

In order to provide all deaths registered in England and Wales in 2020 by underlying cause of death using leading cause groupings compared to the 5-year average, we would need to create a bespoke analysis. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Public Authorities are not obligated to create information in order to respond to requests. We therefore consider this to be information not held.

Deaths by leading cause 2015-2019

Using the NOMIS webservice, you can request a breakdown of all deaths for 2015-2019 by leading causes or by ICD-10 broad cause chapter or by 3 digit ICD-10 breakdown.

Our Deaths Registered Series publications provide an annual breakdown of selected causes and leading causes. Data is available from 2012 to 2019. Please see the following datasets accompanying this series:

Deaths registered in England and Wales – 21st Century mortality: Annual data on the number of deaths registered in England and Wales by age group, sex, year and underlying cause of death, as defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision.

Deaths registered series (dataset): Annual data on deaths registered by age, sex and selected underlying cause of death. Tables also provide both mortality rates and numbers of deaths over time.

Also, using the NOMIS webservice, you can request a breakdown of all deaths for 2015-2019 by leading causes or by ICD-10 broad cause chapter or by 3 digit ICD-10 breakdown

Please see the following instructions for using this service:

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 (ICD-10 code search is available)

Select format (Excel or CSV for example)

Our Deaths Registered Series and NOMIS services will be updated with mortality data for 2020 once the data are finalised in July 2021.

You may also find the following information useful:

The Leading causes of death, UK: 2001 to 2018 provides registered leading causes of death by age, sex and country.

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