Registrar General Reports on Deaths Last Winter

31 October 2007

New figures released today by the Registrar General show that there were 20,382 deaths in Scotland last winter (December 2006 to March 2007).

This compares with 17,526 deaths in the preceding period (August to November) and 17,738 deaths in the following period (April to July).

More people died last winter in Scotland than in the previous winter – which saw the lowest death toll on record.

The seasonal difference, comparing the winter months with the average of the periods before and after the winter, was 2,750 – compared to 1,780 in the winter of 2005-06.

Speaking at the publication of "Increased Winter Mortality in Scotland 2006-07", Registrar General for Scotland, Duncan Macniven, said:

“The seasonal difference in the number of deaths last winter was higher than in the winter of 2005-06, which was the lowest on record. It stood, however, at much the same level as the three previous winters and is just over half of the total in 1999/2000 - the last time there was a bad outbreak of flu.

“There is no single common cause behind these deaths. Very few are caused by hypothermia. Most of the additional deaths in winter are from respiratory and circulatory diseases such as pneumonia, coronary heart disease and stroke.”

Notes to News Editors

1. The report "Increased Winter Mortality in Scotland, 2006/07" is available on this website.

2. It shows the seasonal increase in mortality recorded each winter in Scotland since 1990-91. Increased winter mortality has been defined as the difference between the number of deaths in December-March and the average of the preceding (August-November) and following (April-July) non-winter periods. Information is provided for the whole of Scotland, showing the effect on different age groups, and for each NHS Board area.

3. Data for England & Wales for earlier years are available at the ONS website. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) plan to release data for 2006-07 at the end of November.