UK deaths due to COVID-19

Release date:
13 May 2021

You asked

I would like total number of deaths figure in the UK purely from COVID for the period March 2020 to end of December 2020. I would like the true number of deaths and not the number of deaths where COVID was mentioned on the death certificate.

Can I please also have this data for the period 1st Jan 2021 to 31st Mar 2021.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

We are responsible for the production of Mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration. 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

COVID-19 deaths by underlying cause:

ONS data as described here are different from the figures on COVID-19 deaths published on the government's COVID-19 dashboard which shows 'deaths within 28 days of a positive test'. You can read a blog by Professor John Newton of Public Health England about the complexities of counting COVID-19 deaths and the different methods used.

Figure 2 of our Deaths registered weekly bulletin shows the number of deaths due to COVID-19 and the number of deaths involving COVID-19 with "due to" referring only to deaths where COVID-19 was recorded as the underlying cause of death and "involving" referring to deaths that had COVID-19 mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not.

Please see the 'download data' option at the bottom of Figure 2.

Here are the summed totals for COVID-19 from 3rd January 2020 (week 1 2020) to 1st January 2021 (week 53 2020)

  •       Deaths involving COVID-19 (underlying or contributory cause): 80,830

  •       Deaths due to COVID-19 (underlying cause): 73,444

Here are the summed totals for COVID-19 deaths from 2nd January 2021 (week 1 2021 to 2nd April 2021 (week 13 nearest available week ending date).

  •       Deaths involving COVID-19 (underlying or contributory cause): 55,849

  •       Deaths due to COVID-19 (underlying cause): 49,064

For further information please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk

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