Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people died from (1) influenza, and (2) pneumonia, in each of the last ten years; and of those, how many were aged (a) 60–69, (b) 70–79, (c) 80–89, and (d) 90–99,

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Baroness Altmann,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many people died from (1) influenza, and (2) pneumonia, in each of the last ten years; and of those, how many were aged (a) 60–69, (b) 70–79, (c) 80–89, and (d) 90–99 (HL5629); and how many people died from a stroke in each of the last ten years; and of those, how many were aged (a) 60–69, (b) 70–79, (c) 80–89, and (d) 90–99 (HL5630).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent annual figures published are for deaths registered in 2018[1]. However, we do publish provisional weekly deaths registrations, which are currently published for deaths registered up to 5 June 2020[2]. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10). Deaths caused by influenza, pneumonia and stroke are identified by the ICD-10 codes J09-J11, J12-J18 and I60-I69 respectively.

Table 1 contains the number of deaths involving influenza, pneumonia and stroke occurring in England and Wales in the years 2009-2018. This data is not yet available for 2019 and 2020. The finalised annual death registrations for 2019 will be presented in the forthcoming Death Registrations[3] publication, which we will send to you on 1 July 2020 when it is published.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Number of deaths occuring where the underlying cause influenza, pneumonia or stroke by age group, 2009 and 2018, England and Wales[4][5][6][7][8][9]

Source: Office for National Statistics

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsregisteredinenglandandwalesseriesdrreferencetables

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending5june2020

[3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/deathsregisteredinenglandandwales2019

[4]Figures based on occurrence (death-date)

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

[6]Influenza or pneumonia is the underlying cause of death and was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes J09 to J11.

[7]Pneumonia is the underlying cause of death and was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes J12 to J18.

[8]Stroke is the underlying cause of death and was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes I60 to I64.

[9]For information on how deaths are registered and mortality statistics are produced please see the Quality and methodology section