Weekly registered deaths: 302 for week ending 22 May 2026

Date published: 29 May 2026

The tables containing data on deaths registered for the weeks up to week ending 22 May 2026 were released at 9.30am today.

Key points 

Date of registration

• The provisional number of total deaths registered in Northern Ireland in the week ending 22 May (week 21) was 302, four fewer than the previous week (306).
• The number of expected deaths for week 21 was estimated at 347, using the methodology based on mortality rates and trends. The relative number of excess deaths based on the expected deaths for week 21 was estimated at -45. 
• For the week ending 22 May 2026, the provisional number of deaths was 144 for males and 158 for females.
• The number of expected deaths was estimated at 179 for males and 169 for females, using the current methodology, based on mortality rates and trends. The relative number of excess deaths based on the expected deaths for the same week, was estimated at -35 for males and -11 for females, using the current method.
• For 2026, by 22 May, 50.7% of deaths were males and 49.3% were females. Over two-thirds (67.1%) of deaths were in the 75 years and over age group.
• In 2026, by 22 May, there have been 7,649 deaths registered. 3,470 (45.4%) of these took place in hospital, 1,341 (17.5%) in care homes and 2,838 (37.1%) at residential addresses, hospices, or other locations.
• The number of deaths mentioning flu and/or pneumonia on the death certificate registered in week 21 2026 totalled 37, bringing the total for 2026 so far to 1,403.

Date of death

• The provisional number of deaths occurring in the week ending 22 May (including those registered up to and including 27 May 2026) was 217.

Note for Editor

The tables are available from the weekly deaths webpage.
Historical weekly deaths data are available on the Final Historical Data page under weekly deaths.
More information on the current method for producing estimates of expected deaths, used to determine excess deaths, is available from the ONS website and a summary paper is available on the NISRA website.
If you would like to receive alerts about Vital Statistics releases, please email demography@nisra.gov.uk