previous | contents | next

High Level Summary of Statistics: Population and Migration

Deaths

Deaths in Scotland
Last updated: March 2010

Please note that all figures for 2009 are provisional, and may be revised slightly.  Final figures for 2009 will be published in August 2010.

53,856 deaths were registered in Scotland in 2009. This was 1,844 (3.3%) fewer than in 2008, and was the lowest total recorded since the introduction of civil registration in 1855 (previously, 2006 had had the lowest figure).

In 2009, more than half of all deaths were due to the so-called "three big killers":

• cancer - 15,154 deaths, or 28% of all deaths;
• ischaemic (coronary) heart disease - 8,243 deaths, or 15%; and
• cerebrovascular disease (stroke) - 4,916 deaths, or 9%.

The types of cancer with the largest numbers of deaths included cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung (4,128 deaths), bowel cancer (1,567 deaths), breast cancer (1,007 deaths), cancers of the lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (985 deaths), prostate cancer (787 deaths) and cancers of the oesophagus (744 deaths).

The percentage of deaths accounted for by the so-called "three big killers" was 65% in 1981 and 1991, falling through 61% in 1996 and 59% in 2001 to 55% in 2006 and 53% in 2009.  The proportion of deaths caused by ischaemic heart disease fell from 29% in 1981 to 15% in 2009, and cerebrovascular disease declined from 14% to 9%, whereas the proportion caused by cancer has risen from 22% to 28%.

Other common causes of deaths registered in 2009 included:

• respiratory system diseases (7,093 deaths, or 13% - e.g. pneumonia);
• circulatory system diseases other than ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease (3,613 deaths or 7% - e.g. aortic aneurysm, atrial fibrillation and flutter, and hypertensive disease);
• mental and behavioural disorders (3,247 deaths, or 6% - e.g. due to alcohol or drugs);
• digestive system diseases (2,989 deaths, or 6% - e.g. chronic liver disease);
• nervous system diseases (1,656 deaths, or 3% - e.g. Alzheimer's disease);
• accidents (1,288 deaths, or 2% - e.g. falls, transport accidents); 
• genitourinary system diseases (1,266 deaths, or 2% - e.g. renal failure);
• certain infectious and parasitic diseases (881 deaths, or 2% - e.g. septicaemia); and
• endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (859 deaths, or 2% - e.g. diabetes).

There were 235 deaths of infants (children aged under 1) in 2009.

Causes of Death in Scotland

Source: GROS Registration Data

Links
More Information on Deaths

previous | contents | next