Drownings

(asked on 29th November 2022) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people have died from drowning in each of the last five years.


Answered by
Baroness Neville-Rolfe Portrait
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This question was answered on 13th December 2022

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 29 November is attached.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

The Lord Storey CBE

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

07 December 2022

Dear Lord Storey,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people have died from drowning in each of the last 5 years (HL3861).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on deaths registered in England and Wales. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. Causes mentioned on the death certificate are converted to International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes, with the underlying cause of death defined as the disease or injury that initiated the events that directly lead to the death. At the ONS, we use the term “due to” to refer to the underlying cause of a death.

The ICD-10 codes of accidental drowning related deaths are W65 to W74, which come under the accidental drowning and submersion sub chapter. This consists of:

• W65 – Drowning and submersion while in bath-tub

• W66 – Drowning and submersion following fall into bath-tub

• W67 – Drowning and submersion while in swimming-pool

• W68 – Drowning and submersion following fall into swimming-pool

• W69 – Drowning and submersion while in natural water

• W70 – Drowning and submersion following fall into natural water

• W73 – Other specified drowning and submersion

• W74 – Unspecified drowning and submersion

Table 1 shows the numbers of deaths involving accidental drowning and submersion by year in England and Wales for the period 2017 to 2021, taken from Deaths registered in England and Wales – 21st century mortality[1] . Accidental drowning and submersion is considered an external cause of morbidity and mortality, because of this it is usually referred to a coroner for the death to be certified, which may lead to registration delays[2] . Data for 2022 will be available from mid2023 in the yearly publication on Deaths registered in England and Wales[3] .

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Numbers[4] of deaths[5] by accidental drowning[6] and submersion by year, 2017 to 2021, England and Wales[7]

Year Total per year

2017 193

2018 211

2019 175

2020 193

2021 215

Source: Office for National Statistics – Deaths registered in England and Wales – 21st Century Mortality

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/the 21stcenturymortalityfilesdeathsdataset

[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/impa ctofregistrationdelaysonmortalitystatisticsinenglandandwales/latest

[3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deat hsregistrationsummarytables/latest

[4] Number of deaths by ICD-10 code are available through our explorable dataset NOMIS from 2013 onwards, this can be accessed here: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/construct/summary.asp?reset=yes&mode=construct&dataset=161&v ersion=0&anal=1&initsel=

[5] Death figures are based on deaths registered rather than deaths occurring in a calendar year; for more information see our Impact of registrations delays release.

[6] International Classification of Diseases 10th edition (ICD-10) codes are as follows: W65, Drowning and submersion while in bath-tub; W66, Drowning and submersion following fall into bath-tub; W67, Drowning and submersion while in swimming-pool; W68, Drowning and submersion following fall into swimming-pool; W69, Drowning and submersion while in natural water; W70, Drowning and submersion following fall into natural water; W73, Other specified drowning and submersion; W74, Unspecified drowning and submersion.

[7] Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents.

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