PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Mortality Rates (25 January 2023)

There are a range of different organisations producing different estimates of excess deaths based on different methodologies.

Provisional Office of National Statistics data show 32,088 excess deaths in England in 2022, compared with 51,907 in 2021 and 72,258 in 2020. These figures do not adjust for age and size of the population.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has been reporting on excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic, via its Excess Mortality report. Its estimates, which do adjust for age and size of population, indicate that excess deaths in England were also lower in 2022 than in the two preceding years of the pandemic.

The Department are closely monitoring figures on excess deaths. It is likely that a combination of factors has contributed to excess deaths in the latter part of 2022, including high flu prevalence, cold weather, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.