Trends in UK mortality reflect a public health failure

The headline of a recent BBC article, “UK death rate ‘reaches record low,’” puts a positive spin on mortality data, suggesting the UK has emerged from a period of poor health.1 Based on unpublished analysis from the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, the article reports that standardised death rates in 2024 returned to pre-pandemic levels, below those in 2019, which had the previous lowest reported mortality.

However, as the CMI data highlight, mortality rates remain stagnant. Between 1974 and 2010 mortality rates averaged 26 per 100 000 population a year, before dropping steeply to around 7 per 100 000 population for the past 15 years. Moreover, mortality has consistently increased for people living in the most disadvantaged areas2 and for working age adults during this period.3 The BBC article focuses on the contributions of specific conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and obesity, as explanations of the mortality trends, with only passing comment of the established leading cause—austerity. This misleading coverage of the causes of Britain’s poor health is not unique. For example, reporting …