Figures published recently by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that there were 23,100 excess deaths of people aged 65 and over in England and Wales last winter – a higher mortality rate than Finland or Sweden!

To calculate excess winter deaths, the Office for National Statistics breaks the year into thirds, where winter is taken to be the months of December to March. Excess winter deaths refers to how many additional deaths there were in this period, in comparison to the average number of deaths that occurred in the non-winter months of the same year. So, excess winter deaths can be taken as a measure for how many people are dying because of cold and wintry conditions.

The figure of 23,100 represents a reduction of 31% from the previous year, but is still close to the five-year average of 24,956.

Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director of Age UK, commented:

“The drop in excess winter deaths from the previous year seems to show that some progress has been made. However, it’s still unacceptable that in this day and age tens of thousands more older people die in this country every winter from the effects of the cold weather.

“The simple fact that the UK has one of the highest winter mortality rates in Europe – higher than even Sweden or Finland – makes it clear this is very much a home-grown problem. These are avoidable deaths due not just to the cold weather in itself but to the country’s inability to meet the challenge of dropping temperatures. Behind these shocking statistics lie deep-seated social issues, such as 3.5 million older people in fuel poverty, and one in three over-60s living in houses which fail the decent-home standard.

Read more on how to reduce winter deaths on the Age UK Website