You asked
Please provide the total annual number and monthly totals of all respiratory deaths in 2020.
Please provide flu, pneumonia and Covid-19, where the death was caused by respiratory illness, not people who died and had a positive Covid-19 test, but died from another cause.
Could I also have individual yearly totals for ALL respiratory deaths from the previous 5 years for comparison.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Respiratory deaths in 2020
The number of deaths where the underlying cause was respiratory disease (ICD-10 J00-J99) are available via the following link: Weekly deaths registrations in England and Wales: Datasets. Row 18 of the 'Weekly figures 2020' tab in the 2020 dataset provides the number of respiratory deaths in each week of 2020. Monthly figures can be summed from this data.
The downloadable dataset beneath Figure 2 of our most recent Weekly deaths bulletin provides weekly data showing the number of deaths from COVID-19 and influenza and pneumonia combined. This includes those who have died 'due to COVID-19' in Column G. We use the term 'due to' when stating that this was the primary cause of death.
More in-depth analysis of deaths occurring between 1st January and 31st August 2020 , including a split of flu and pneumonia figures for England and Wales and comparisons of deaths from COVID with deaths from flu and pneumonia are available here: Deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19) compared with deaths from influenza and pneumonia, England and Wales.
A full breakdown of deaths by influenza and pneumonia separately for 2020 will be available once the data is finalised in mid-2021. Consequently, this information is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
The final release date will be announced on our Release Calendar.
Respiratory deaths 2014 to 2019
For the 5 years prior to 2020, the number of annual respiratory deaths can be obtained via our NOMIS webservice.
Please see the following instructions for using this service:
Select the geography - England and Wales, regional or by local authority
Select Age – All ages or 5-year age bands
Select Gender – Total or Male/Female
Select rates – All deaths, rates or percentage of population for example
Select cause of death - ICD10 code search is available: Please input J00-J99
Select format (Excel or CSV for example)
In order to provide a monthly breakdown of respiratory deaths pre-2020, we would need to create bespoke analysis. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Public Authorities are not obligated to create information in order to respond to requests. We therefore consider this to be information not held. However, this information is available to order as an ad hoc production. Such services would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure controls, resources and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there may be a charge for this work which would be subject to our charging policy