{"id":23125,"date":"2025-03-02T23:47:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T00:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23125"},"modified":"2025-03-03T10:26:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T10:26:51","slug":"uk-death-rate-reaches-record-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23125","title":{"rendered":"UK death rate &#8216;reaches record low&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-0 haItSe\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-1 cjDa-dM\">10 hours ago<\/p>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-12 fcCDwR\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-5 evAEAB\">\n<div><span class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-7 kItaYD\">Christine Jeavans<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Data journalist, BBC Verify<!-- --><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 ejjhCR\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/75b03d10-f514-11ef-a276-596f7e6218f8.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images An older man carries a young boy on his shoulders during a walk outside. The relationship is one of grandfather and grandson. \" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\" \/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 hesJxn\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The UK death rate reached a record low last year, according to exclusive analysis carried out for BBC News.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Mortality experts looked at death certificates registered in 2024 and found that deaths per head of the population had returned to pre-pandemic levels and were slightly below the previous record in 2019.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">However, the new figure puts the UK back on its long-term trend of only gradual improvement.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The research was carried out by analysts from the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">What&#8217;s been happening to death rates?<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;This is five years of basically flat mortality improvement, it&#8217;s pretty poor by historical standards,&#8221; said Stuart McDonald from the CMI.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">There was also a &#8220;concerning&#8221; rise in the death rate at young working ages, he said.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">A Department of Health spokesperson said the government was &#8220;shifting focus from sickness to prevention&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The registered death rate in the UK steadily halved from 1974 to 2011 largely driven by improvements in tackling heart disease, including smoking prevention and medical advances.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">From 2011 to 2019 the improvements drastically slowed, then changed direction during Covid as thousands more people died than normal. The first post-pandemic year of 2022 also saw <!-- --><a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-64209221\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">high numbers of extra deaths<!-- --><\/a>.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">To calculate the record low 2024 UK figure of 989 deaths per 100,000 people, analysts at the CMI used provisional weekly death registration figures for the four nations of the UK.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;Clearly, it&#8217;s very good news that our mortality rate is lower in 2024 than it was,&#8221; says Dr Veena Raleigh, epidemiologist at health think tank <!-- --><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kingsfund.org.uk\/\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">The King&#8217;s Fund<!-- --><\/a>. &#8220;But if you look at the broader canvas then it&#8217;s not so good.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Although similar countries also experienced a slowdown since 2011, the UK&#8217;s has been more severe and our life expectancy is at the &#8220;bottom of the pack of comparable countries,&#8221; she says, adding that nations such as Spain returned to pre-pandemic levels by 2023.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">Causes and risk factors<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Researchers point to a variety of reasons behind the slowdown since 2011. Some of the &#8220;low hanging fruit&#8221; of improvements in heart disease and cancer, such as the cut in smoking rates, had already happened, making further gains harder.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">At the same time, the UK saw rising risk factors, including obesity, poor diet and low levels of exercise, against a backdrop of widening social inequality and pressure on the NHS.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Some academics argue that austerity cuts to public services after the 2008 financial crash had a strong impact on life expectancy, while others say it&#8217;s not possible to prove this directly.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Dementia and Alzheimer&#8217;s disease is the leading cause of death in England and Wales, according to the <!-- --><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ons.gov.uk\/peoplepopulationandcommunity\/birthsdeathsandmarriages\/deaths\/bulletins\/deathsregistrationsummarytables\/2023\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">latest official figures<!-- --><\/a>. Heart disease, lung disease, strokes, lung cancer also feature highly, along with flu in some years.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;Cardiovascular disease remains a leading killer in the UK,&#8221; said Prof Bryan Williams OBE, chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;The plateau we have seen in reducing the number of deaths&#8230; is a serious cause for concern, made worse by the impact of the pandemic on an already overstretched health service.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">He added that early deaths from cardiovascular disease had grown in the most deprived areas of England and called for &#8220;urgent government action&#8221; in its prevention, detection and treatment.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">Deaths at younger ages<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Overall death rates are largely a reflection of older people&#8217;s health as more than three-quarters of UK deaths happen over the age of 70.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">So the main trend is driven by what is happening to people in this age group.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">But the CMI found &#8220;really significant differences&#8221; at younger ages says Stuart McDonald, with a &#8220;concerning&#8221; upward trend in mortality among 20-44-year-olds.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;For this age group, death rates have actually been going up slightly, even before the pandemic. If we go back to 2011 we can see a slight increase in death rates year-on-year.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Death numbers among this age group are much lower than at older ages and the causes tend to be different. Fewer than 20,000 people aged 20-44 die in the UK each year, about 3% of all deaths.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;External and substance-related causes are most important because often that&#8217;s what people die of in this age group,&#8221; says Antonino Polizzi, researcher at the <!-- --><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.demography.ox.ac.uk\/\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science<!-- --><\/a> at the University of Oxford.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;Things like drug overdoses, alcohol-related deaths, accidents, homicides and suicides.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The UK, particularly Scotland, has seen a rise in drug-related death rates, he says.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;These causes are usually improving for other Western European countries so we are seeing a divergent effect.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Commenting on the overall trends at all age groups, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: &#8220;We inherited an NHS that was broken and we are determined to fix it.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;Through our Plan for Change we are shifting focus from sickness to prevention and targeting the drivers of ill health and catching the biggest killers earlier.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;We are creating the first smoke free generation, stopping junk food ads being targeted at children and improving detection of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">About the data<!-- --><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>10 hours ago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23125"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23129,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23125\/revisions\/23129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}