Deaths of British citizens occurring abroad

Release date:
16 June 2025

FOI reference: FOI-2025-2861

You asked

I would be grateful if you could provide the following information within the years of 2020-2025 in calendar years, not fiscal:

  1. The number of British citizens who died in foreign countries, broken down by year, country and cause of death. 

  2. Are there Wales-specific figures available within this data set? And if so, could you provide these with the same breakdown.

  3. I understand that your office may only hold information on deaths registered in England and Wales. If so, is there a way to determine from the registration data whether the death occurred abroad? And could you provide these. Could you provide specific data on deaths of British nationals which occur abroad in Spain per year. And provide a breakdown of the causes of death.

We said

Thank you for your request.  

Unfortunately, we do not hold the information you have requested. We are responsible for the production of mortality statistics for England and Wales. We only hold data on those deaths that are registered in England and Wales.  

There is an option to register the death of those abroad with the General Register Office, but this is not compulsory. The information available may be different from that collected at registration in this country. Please contact the General Register Office for more information GROCasework@gro.gov.uk

Making an FOI request

Everything you need to know about Freedom of Information and how to go about making a request.