You asked
Please provide annuals deaths from influenza for the last 5 years in the United Kingdom.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are primarily responsible for mortality statistics for England and Wales. 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.
Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration. All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). 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
Deaths where influenza was the underlying cause between 2013 and 2019 can be obtained via our NOMIS webservice.
Influenza can be identified using ICD-10 codes J09-J11.
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 – Please search the following ICD-10 codes for influenza: J09-J11
Select format (Excel or CSV for example)
2020 data for influenza alone will be available on NOMIS when death registrations are finalised in July 2021.
As such, influenza deaths for 2020 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.
Influenza and pneumonia figures combined for 2020 are available in the download file beneath Figure 2 of our Provisional weekly deaths publication. The columns of interest to you are columns C and D. Column E provides the 5-year average for influenza and pneumonia deaths combined, which may also be of interest.