The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) recently published Excess Winter Deaths (EWD) data for England and Wales has revealed that England and Wales experienced more EWDs than any other year on recent record.
2017/18 excess winter deaths totalled 50,100. The records would have to go back to 1975/76 to find a year when more EWD had taken place, with a total of 58,100 EWD.
Even the unexpected cold snap of 2014, where 43,800 EWDs were recorded, pales in comparison to the most recent statistics, exceeding them by more than 6,000 deaths.
In comparison with the winter of two years ago, the excess winter deaths from last year was 45.1% higher and more than doubled since 2015 to 2016.
Women aged over 85-years were the most likely to become victim of dying during winter months. Additionally, 34.7% of all EWDs were attributed to respiratory diseases.
Around 18.2% of the UK population were aged over 65-years in 2017, this is a 2.3% increase since 2007 and is predicted to grow to 20.7% over the next decade; highlighting the fact that there will be an increase in the population that will become vulnerable to the wrath of colder months.
Nick Stripe, Health Analysis and Life Events, Office for National Statistics, said: “The number of excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2017 to 2018 was the highest recorded since the winter of 1975 to 1976. However, peaks like these are not unusual – we have seen more than eight peaks during the last 40 years. It is likely that last winter’s increase was due to the predominant strain of flu, the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine and below-average winter temperatures.”
Sarah Coates, Centre for Ageing and Demography, Office for National Statistics, said: “The UK population has doubled over the last 140 years, reaching a new high of 66 million people in 2017. We project there to be almost 73 million people in the UK by 2041.
“This growth is due to there being more births than deaths and more people moving to the UK than leaving.
“As well as growing, the population is also ageing. From looking at past patterns, we project that more than a quarter of UK residents will be aged 65 years or over within the next 50 years.”
As the UK’s population continues to age, it is likely that EWDs will continue to grow.
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