Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be the leading cause of death for all deaths registered in England and Wales in 2021.
2021 saw a slight (3.6%) decrease in deaths registered in England and Wales against the previous year, down to 586,334 from 607,922. For the second consecutive year, and only the second occurrence since 1981, there were more male deaths (297,989) than female deaths (288,345).
In both gender groups Ischaemic heart disease (the leading cause amongst males accounting for 12.4% of all deaths), Dementia and Alzheimer’s (leading causes of death in the female population at 14%) are all noted as leading causes of death.
Overall however, as was the case in 2020, coronavirus (COVID-19) is listed as the leading cause of death at 67,350 or 11.5% of all deaths registered.
Demographically speaking and taking into account population size and age structure, the North East of England remains the area with the highest age-standardised mortality rate (ASMR) overall with the lowest being London. In Wales, the ASMR for males is highest in Neath Port Talbot and lowest in Monmouthshire and for females, Blaenau Gwent and Ceredigion respectively. As a whole, the ASMR decreased significantly for both gender groups following an increase last year.
We’ve put together a visual analysis to provide a more detailed breakdown of the leading causes of death, providing valuable insight into the ever-changing world of the probate industry and a reminder of the importance of ensuring that your affairs are in order.
It is worth noting that this data looks at the underlying cause of death only, so does not consider other contributory conditions or diseases mentioned on the death certificate. The majority (86.6%) of deaths that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate in 2021 had COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death; where these deaths had another cause mentioned as a contributory factor, which is not included in this leading cause analysis. It is also important to understand that the groupings are based on a list developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Causes such as cancer and circulatory diseases are split into different subtypes, with the aim to provide policymakers with enough detail to generate appropriate health policies and interventions.
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This article was compiled using data from the Office of National Statistics. It contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.