FOI reference: FOI-2026-3485
You asked
I would like to know between 1984 and today, or close (say within a year either way) how many people have died in the UK due to air guns, snakes or ladders? Could you also quantify these figures as a percentage of all deaths and the population still alive please.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of 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 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 the World Health Organization (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
Causes of death are certified in most cases by a doctor, who records the sequence of medical conditions and relevant events leading to, or contributing to, the death, based on the deceased's healthcare records and other available information, such as laboratory tests or post-mortem investigation. Some deaths are certified by a coroner who determines the causes of death following an inquest, based on all the available evidence.
ICD-10 codes relevant to your request are:
- X20 - Contact with venomous snakes and lizards
- W59 - Bitten or crushed by other reptiles (lizards and non-venomous snakes)
- W11 - fall on and from ladder
- W34 - Discharge from other and unspecified firearms (including airgun, BB gun, flare, gunshot wound not otherwise specified)
The information you have requested for 2013 to 2024 is available from our explorable dataset available on our NOMIS webservice
Instructions for use of this service:
Select geography (England and Wales, regional, or by local authority)
Select age (all ages, or five-year age bands)
Select gender (total, or male or female)
Select rates (all births, rates, or percentage of population, for example)
Select the ICD10 code for the underlying cause of death
Select format (Excel or CSV, for example)
The specific outputs you are looking for would need to be created as a custom output. Information on deaths due to air guns, snakes, or ladders in England and Wales, 1984 to 2025, including rates along with other 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. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further.
As this information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.