For the week ending August 29, 2025, weekly deaths in England and Wales were 985 below the number expected, compared with 855 below what was expected in the previous week. In late 2022 and through early 2023, excess deaths were elevated for a number of weeks, with the excess deaths figure for the week ending January 13, 2023, the highest since February 2021. In the middle of April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were almost 12,000 excess deaths a week recorded in England and Wales. It was not until two months later, in the week ending June 19, 2020, that the number of deaths began to be lower than the five-year average for the corresponding week. Most deaths since 1918 in 2020 In 2020, there were 689,629 deaths in the United Kingdom, making that year the deadliest since 1918, at the height of the Spanish influenza pandemic. As seen in the excess death figures, April 2020 was by far the worst month in terms of deaths during the pandemic. The weekly number of deaths for weeks 16 and 17 of that year were 22,351, and 21,997 respectively. Although the number of deaths fell to more usual levels for the rest of that year, a winter wave of the disease led to a high number of deaths in January 2021, with 18,676 deaths recorded in the fourth week of that year. For the whole of 2021, there were 667,479 deaths in the UK, 22,150 fewer than in 2020. Life expectancy in the UK goes into reverse In 2022, life expectancy at birth for women in the UK was 82.6 years, while for men it was 78.6 years. This was the lowest life expectancy in the country for ten years, and came after life expectancy improvements stalled throughout the 2010s, and then declined from 2020 onwards. There is also quite a significant regional difference in life expectancy in the UK. In the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, for example, the life expectancy for men was 81.5 years, and 86.5 years for women. By contrast, in Blackpool, in North West England, male life expectancy was just 73.1 years, while for women, life expectancy was lowest in Glasgow, at 78 years.

In August 2025, there were 39,435 deaths in England and Wales, compared with 45,796 in July. In April 2020, there were 88,038 deaths, which was an increase of almost 40,000 from the month before and by far the month with the most deaths in this period. The dramatic increase in deaths in April can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which first hit the UK in early 2020.

Number of deaths registered each month by area of usual residence for England and Wales, by region, county, health authorities, local and unitary authority, and London borough.

There were 11,480 deaths registered in England and Wales for the week ending November 14, 2025, compared with 11,297 in the previous week. During this time period, the two weeks with the highest number of weekly deaths were in April 2020, with the week ending April 17, 2020, having 22,351 deaths, and the following week 21,997 deaths, a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Death and life expectancy As of 2022, the life expectancy for women in the UK was just over 82.5 years, and almost 78.6 years for men. Compared with 1765, when average life expectancy was under 39 years, this is a huge improvement in historical terms. Even in the more recent past, life expectancy was less than 47 years at the start of the 20th Century, and was under 70 as recently as the 1950s. Despite these significant developments in the long-term, improvements in life expectancy stalled between 2009/11 and 2015/17, and have even gone into decline since 2020. Between 2020 and 2022, for example, life expectancy at birth fell by 23 weeks for females, and 37 weeks for males. COVID-19 in the UK The first cases of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom were recorded on January 31, 2020, but it was not until a month later that cases began to rise exponentially. By March 5 of this year there were more than 100 cases, rising to 1,000 days later and passing 10,000 cumulative cases by March 26. At the height of the pandemic in late April and early May, there were around six thousand new cases being recorded daily. As of January 2023, there were more than 24.2 million confirmed cumulative cases of COVID-19 recorded in the United Kingdom, resulting in 202,156 deaths.

On March 4, 2020, the first death as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19) was recorded in the United Kingdom (UK). The number of deaths in the UK has increased significantly since then. As of January 13, 2023, the number of confirmed deaths due to coronavirus in the UK amounted to 202,157. On January 21, 2021, 1,370 deaths were recorded, which was the highest total in single day in the UK since the outbreak began.

Number of deaths among highest in Europe
The UK has had the highest number of deaths from coronavirus in western Europe. In terms of rate of coronavirus deaths, the UK has recorded 297.8 deaths per 100,000 population.

Cases in the UK The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK was 24,243,393 as of January 13, 2023. The South East has the highest number of first-episode confirmed cases of the virus in the UK with 3,123,050 cases, while London and the North West have 2,912,859 and 2,580,090 confirmed cases respectively. As of January 16, the UK has had 50 new cases per 100,000 in the last seven days.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

This dataset contains information of monthly death figures, provided counts of the number of deaths registered in a calendar month, by area of usual residence in England and Wales for 2013 to 2018. In this dataset, the figures are presented by regions (within England), counties, and London boroughs.

Number of deaths registered each month in England and Wales, including deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19), by age, sex and country.

UK monthly death counts per region in the period 2006 - June 2020. This data was extracted and rearranged from the Excel files on these links: England and Wales: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/monthlyfiguresondeathsregisteredbyareaofusualresidence Scotland: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/general-publications/weekly-and-monthly-data-on-births-and-deaths/monthly-data-on-births-and-deaths-registered-in-scotland Northern Ireland: https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/monthly-deaths

Total Covid deaths, end of month in the United Kingdom, March, 2023 The most recent value is 211155 total Covid deaths as of March 2023, an increase compared to the previous value of 207911 total Covid deaths. Historically, the average for the United Kingdom from March 2020 to March 2023 is 129999 total Covid deaths. The minimum of 3182 total Covid deaths was recorded in March 2020, while the maximum of 211155 total Covid deaths was reached in March 2023. | TheGlobalEconomy.com

These datasets include all deaths registered in England and Wales for the time periods specified. Data are supplied to ONS by the Local Registration Service, in partnership with the General Register Office (GRO). Coding for cause of death is carried out according to the World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and internationally agreed rules, allowing for international comparisons.

Deaths registered in England and Wales to those usually resident outside of England and Wales are included. Deaths registered outside of England and Wales to those usually resident in England and Wales are excluded.

This dataset was created to provide timely statistics needed for COVID-19 analysis. Therefore, the provisional death registration data is only to be used only for COVID-19 accredited projects. The data are provisional, and cover the period 2020-2021. For Death registration data prior to this period, please see 'Death registration data - Finalised Extracts.'

The winter mortality index (WMI) is a measure expressed as a ratio of the difference in all cause mortality during winter months (December to March) compared to the average in the non winter months (the preceding August to November and following April to July).The terminology used to describe this indicator has changed to provide clearer explanation of what the analysis represents. The measures have been renamed to winter deaths compared to non winter deaths (previously excess winter deaths) and winter mortality index (WMI) (previously excess winter mortality index). There have been no methodology changes.

RationaleThe purpose of the winter mortality measure is to compare the number of deaths that occurred in the winter period (December to March) with the average of the non winter periods (August to November and April to July). Winter mortality is not solely a reflection of temperature, but of other factors as well. These include respiratory diseases and pressure on services, which have been more intense than usual during and following the height of the pandemic (1).It is an important measure as it allows users to assess whether policies are having an impact on mortality risks during the winter period (2). (1) Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 19 January 2023, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Winter mortality in England and Wales: 2021 to 2022 (provisional) and 2020 to 2021 (final). (2) Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 19 January 2023, ONS website, QMI, Winter mortality in England and Wales QMI: 19 January 2023Definition of numeratorTotal number of winter deaths for all ages in defined year 20xx/20xx+1 (number of deaths occurring in December in year 20xx and January to March in 20xx plus 1) minus half the number of deaths in the non winter months (preceding August to November in year 20xx and following April to July in year 20xx plus 1) and registered by 31 December 20xx plus 1.Definition of denominatorThe average number of deaths for all ages ( in defined year 20xx/20xx plus 1) occurring in the non winter months, i.e. the total number of deaths occurring in the preceding August to November in year 20xx and the following April to July in year 20xx plus 1 divided by two and registered by 31 December 20xx plus 1.CaveatsIn 2020, the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic led to a large increase of deaths mostly in the non-winter months of April to July 2020. This has impacted the WMI for 2019 to 2020. Because we rely on using the difference between deaths occurring in the winter and the average of non winter months; specifically, the scale of COVID 19 deaths during non winter months has fundamentally disturbed the data time series and so data for 2019 to 2020 should be interpreted with caution.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Births and Mortality Extract is based on registered deaths (Date of registration) and the Winter deaths compared to non winter deaths and WMI calculations are based on the date of death occurrences (Date of death). It is possible that a number of deaths might not have been registered when the data were released and this could vary between areas. This indicator only includes deaths which are registered by the end of the calendar year 20xx plus 1.Data published in the PHOF will differ from published ONS results which uses an extract of mortality data taken approximately five months after the annual ONS mortality extract is taken, in order to give more time for late registrations (for example, deaths that were referred to a coroner) to appear in the data.The WMI will be partly dependent on the proportion of older people in the population as most winter deaths effect older people (there is no standardisation in this calculation by age or any other factor).This winter period was selected as they are the months which over the last 50 years have displayed above average monthly mortality. However, if mortality starts to increase prior to this, for example in November, the number of deaths in the non winter period will increase, which in turn will decrease the estimate of winter deaths compared to non winter deaths.The counts are presented rounded to the nearest 10, in line with how data is presented by the ONS.

Provisional counts of the number of deaths registered in England and Wales, by age, sex, region and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), in the latest weeks for which data are available.

There were 2,784 infant deaths in the United Kingdom in 2021, compared with 2,620 in the previous year. The number of infant deaths in 2020 was the fewest in the provided time period, especially compared with 1900 when there were 163,470 infant deaths.

Context

COVID-19 is a Pandemic which was spread worldwide in the early months of 2020, Which has had a major impact on the United Kingdom. As the UK has recently carried out wide spread vaccination and ended Lockdown I am providing the recent COVID-19 figures.

Content

Several Datasets are provided, focusing on Deaths, Cases, Hospitalisation and Vaccination. Files often protray the same information but from a different reference point. For example for Deaths there is one displaying figures from people who died using there positive date as a reference point, whereas the other is using the date of death.

Acknowledgements

These datasets was scrapped off the UK Gov website in regards to COVID-19. For those looking to build a more complex project using a constant data flow, they do provide an API which may assist.

Inspiration

Possible area to explore are: What was the Impact of Vaccines on the COVID-19 Pandemic? What was the Impact of a Lockdown on the COVID-19 Pandemic? Which Nation managed the spread of COVID-19 the best?

Licence

Open Government Licence V3.0

In 2023 life expectancy for both males and females at birth rose when compared to 2022. Male life expectancy increased from 78.58 years to 78.82 years, and from 82.57 years to 82.77 years for females. Throughout most of this period, there is a steady rise in life expectancy for both males and females, with improvements in life expectancy beginning to slow in the 2010s and then starting to decline in the 2020s. Life expectancy since the 18th Century Although there has been a recent dip in life expectancy in the UK, long-term improvements to life expectancy stretch back several centuries. In 1765, life expectancy was below 39 years, and only surpassed 40 years in the 1810s, 50 years by the 1910s, 60 years by the 1930s and 70 by the 1960s. While life expectancy has broadly improved since the 1700s, this trajectory was interrupted at various points due to wars and diseases. In the early 1920s, for example, life expectancy suffered a noticeable setback in the aftermath of the First World War and Spanish Flu Epidemic. Impact of COVID-19 While improvements to UK life expectancy stalled during the 2010s, it wasn't until the 2020s that it began to decline. The impact of COVID-19 was one of the primary factors in this respect, with 2020 seeing the most deaths in the UK since 1918. The first wave of the pandemic in Spring of that year was a particularly deadly time, with weekly death figures far higher than usual. A second wave that winter saw a peak of almost 5,700 excess deaths a week in late January 2021, with excess deaths remaining elevated for several years afterward.

In early-February, 2020, the first cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in the United Kingdom (UK). The number of cases in the UK has since risen to 24,243,393, with 1,062 new cases reported on January 13, 2023. The highest daily figure since the beginning of the pandemic was on January 6, 2022 at 275,646 cases.

COVID deaths in the UK COVID-19 has so far been responsible for 202,157 deaths in the UK as of January 13, 2023, and the UK has one of the highest death toll from COVID-19 in Europe. As of January 13, the incidence of deaths in the UK is 298 per 100,000 population.

Regional breakdown The South East has the highest amount of cases in the country with 3,123,050 confirmed cases as of January 11. London and the North West have 2,912,859 and 2,580,090 cases respectively.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.