Avoidable death rate in England falls to its lowest on record, ONS figures for 2025 show
The rate fell 3.1% to 219.5 per 100,000, below the 2019 low. In the most deprived areas of England and Wales it was still between 3.3 and 3.8 times the rate in the least deprived.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
England's rate of avoidable deaths reached a new record low in 2025, the Office for National Statistics said on Monday. The age-standardised rate fell 3.1% to 219.5 per 100,000 people, from 226.6 the year before and below the previous record of 221.5 set in 2019.
The measure counts deaths among under-75s from causes that are treatable or preventable. There were 110,804 such deaths registered in England, out of 534,020 deaths in all, and 8,011 in Wales, out of 35,767.
Wales moved far less. Its rate slipped 0.8% to 269.2 per 100,000, from 271.5, which the ONS describes as similar to pre-pandemic levels rather than a record.
Where the rate fell
Every English region improved between 2024 and 2025. The North East had the highest rate at 270.0, down 3.6%, and the North West was next at 264.1, down 3.5%. The South East was lowest at 190.6, down 1.2%, followed by London at 191.9, down 5.0%. The biggest falls in the number of deaths came in the North West, with 529 fewer, and London, with 481 fewer.
What is left is mostly preventable
Tumours remained the leading avoidable cause in both countries, at 70.4 per 100,000 in England and 79.6 in Wales. Circulatory diseases came second, at 60.7 and 73.0. England saw statistically significant falls in circulatory disease, tumours, respiratory disease and COVID-19. In Wales only COVID-19 changed significantly.
Preventable causes, meaning those mainly avoidable through public health measures and primary prevention, made up 64.1% of avoidable deaths in England and 65.1% in Wales. In 2001 the shares were 59.1% and 59.5%. The ONS links that shift to stable death rates from preventable causes while rates fell for causes that count as both preventable and treatable.
The gap by deprivation
The rate for males in England's most deprived areas was 547.8 per 100,000, against 144.7 in the least deprived, a ratio of 3.8. For females the figures were 327.5 and 95.2, a ratio of 3.4. In Wales the male ratio was also 3.8 and the female ratio 3.3. For respiratory disease in England, the rate in the most deprived areas was more than eight times that in the least deprived, for both sexes.
The figures cover deaths registered in each calendar year and leave out non-residents. Deprivation measures for England and Wales are built separately, so they can't be compared directly.
