ONS releases provisional mortality report

Provisional mortality data has been released by Public Health England (PHE) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The quarterly report covers death occurrences in England up to December 2016. It aims to provide the most up-to-date national analysis of recent information.

Mortality statistics

There were provisionally 490,705 deaths registered in 2016. This is 4,604 fewer than in 2015, but 21,828 more than in 2014, and 19,229 more than the average over the period 2011 to 2015.

The death rate in 2016 was the second lowest since 2001 (based on death rates adjusted for changes in the age structure of the population), despite 2016 having the fifth-highest number of deaths over that period.

For both genders, life expectancy for 2016 was higher than 2015. For men was back to the historically high values of 2014.

Additional deaths in 2016 (when compared with the 2011 to 2015 average) can be accounted for by changes in the size and structure of the population; if the population in 2016 had experienced the same average mortality rates as 2011 to 2015, we would have expected approximately 10,000 more deaths than were actually registered.

Looking at those aged 75 and over the death rate has fallen for each group when compared with 2001, for those aged 75 to 79 in particular it has fallen by almost a third; however, most of the fall was up to 2011 and there has been little change since then.