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Registrar General Reports on Deaths Last Winter

New figures released today by the Registrar General show that there were fewer deaths in Scotland last winter compared to the previous year.

There were 19,900 deaths in Scotland in the four months of winter 2007/08 (December to March), compared with 20,384 in winter 2006/07. 

The 19,900 deaths in the four winter months of 2007/08 exceeded both the 17,600 deaths in the preceding four-month period and the 17,850 deaths in the following four-month period.  The seasonal difference (comparing the four winter months with the average of the four-month periods before and after the winter) was 2,180 for the winter of 2007/08 – compared with a figure of 2,750 for the winter of 2006/07.

Speaking about the publication of "Increased Winter Mortality in Scotland 2007/08", the Registrar General for Scotland, Duncan Macniven, said:

“The seasonal difference in the number of deaths last winter was the fifth lowest in the 57 years for which we have such statistics. The lowest figure was for the winter of 2005/06 (1,780), and the second lowest was for the winter of 2001/02 (1,840) - so the past seven years have seen three of the five lowest seasonal differences in a series that goes back to 1951/52.  The long-term trend is clearly downward, but the figures can fluctuate from year to year.  The additional number of deaths last winter was only about two-fifths of the figure for the winter of 1999/2000, which was the last time there was a bad outbreak of flu. 

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