The Office for National Statistics recorded 110,804 avoidable deaths in England and 8,011 in Wales during 2025, together accounting for more than a fifth of all deaths registered in each country.
One in five deaths registered in England last year was classified as avoidable — 110,804 in total, or 20.7 per cent of the 534,020 deaths recorded, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics on 2 November 2026. Wales recorded 8,011 avoidable deaths, representing 22.4 per cent of its 35,767 registered deaths. The ONS defines avoidable mortality as deaths among people aged under 75 from causes considered either preventable through public health action or treatable through timely and effective healthcare.
Tumours — classified by the ONS as neoplasms — were the leading cause of avoidable mortality in both countries, with diseases of the circulatory system second in each. The figures are drawn from death certificates registered during the 2025 calendar year and exclude deaths of non-residents.
England’s age-standardised avoidable mortality rate fell 3.1 per cent to 219.5 deaths per 100,000 people, the lowest in the ONS time series. Wales saw a smaller drop of 0.8 per cent, to 269.2 per 100,000 — compared with England’s rate, that’s nearly 23 per cent higher. Both rates are standardised against the 2013 European Standard Population.
The persistent disparity between England and Wales in age-standardised avoidable mortality rates points to a longstanding geographic inequality in both public health outcomes and access to timely healthcare across the two nations.
The ONS cautions that the classification reflects potential avoidability at population level and does not mean every individual death could have been prevented. The figures combine deaths linked to public health failures — smoking rates, obesity, deprivation — with those linked to healthcare access and quality, so they don’t measure NHS performance alone. Governments and public-health bodies use the data to assess prevention programmes and the reach of clinical services. The ONS publishes a breakdown by local authority, Integrated Care Board and Welsh Health Board.
Source: @ONS