FOI reference: FOI-2025-2503
This response was updated following an internal review on 6 October 2025
You asked
Please provide data for the number of deaths due to male circumcision in each of the last 20 years. If possible, please provide the age of the individual, year of death, and detail whether the circumcision was therapeutic (for medical reasons) or non-therapeutic (for cultural or religious reasons).
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality statistics for deaths registered in 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.
ONS mortality data is taken from the information provided on death certificates. The death certificate used in England and Wales is compatible with that recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is set out in two parts. Part I gives the condition or sequence of conditions leading directly to death, while Part II gives details of any associated conditions that contributed to the death but are not part of the causal sequence.
When ONS receive the data, we use computer algorithms to apply rules which increase the consistency and improve the international and temporal comparability of mortality statistics. 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 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.
A death that was caused by circumcision would have as the underlying cause of death, a reference to adverse effect of surgery or something similar. For example, ICD10 code Y83 -- 'Surgical operation and other surgical procedures as the cause of abnormal reaction or complication'.
Along with this code, a code relevant to male circumcision may be mentioned later on the death certificate. Within chapter XXI of the coding classification that relates to patients who have already been treated for a disease or injury, the ICD-10 code Z41.2 relates to both therapeutic and ritual male circumcision. However, ICD10 Z codes are not intended by WHO for routine use in mortality coding and cannot be used as the underlying cause of death. For this reason, we have extracted death registrations where the underlying cause of death was Y83 and searched the cause of death and coroners’ text to identify records where ‘circumcision’ was recorded in the text.
For deaths occurring between 2001 and 2024 there were 14 deaths to males where circumcision was mentioned in the text. Of these 14 deaths, 7 were males under the age of 18 and 7 were males over the age of 18. Please note, these figures may not account for all deaths where circumcision was a factor as the procedure may not be recorded in the text.
We unfortunately do not hold information allowing us to determine whether the circumcisions were for medical or ritual reasons.
We would be unable to confirm the exact ages and years of death for each of the individuals, as this would allow individuals to be identified. This data is therefore exempt under s.44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as Section 39 of the SRSA strictly prohibits the unauthorised disclosure of personal information held by the Statistics Board for the purposes of producing statistical analysis. Personal information is any information that would identify an individual, whether living or deceased, or corporate body. In this case, the disclosure of the exact ages and year of death would allow identification of those individuals.