Cause of Death

NISRA are involved in the production of a number of other reports relating to specific causes of death. Information on Alcohol deaths, Drug Related Deaths, Suicide, Excess Winter Mortality (EWM), Healthcare-Associated Infections (HCAI) and Covid-19 Related Deaths are available here.

NISRA is currently working with the Coroners Service in relation to a quality issue identified in the Northern Ireland Suicide deaths data series. This affects the period 2015 to 2018. The guidance note will provide additional information on this issue as well as advice on which data to use until further notice. NISRA will keep users informed once a course of action has been agreed, including an indicative timeline for this to be implemented.

More detailed finalised statistics on death registrations in Northern Ireland, with details relating to causes such as malignant neoplasms, heart disease, suicide and accidents are available from the Death by cause Section of the Registrar General Annual Report.

Provisional cause of death statistics for more recent years are available from the Registrar General Quarterly Reports.

The Department of Health produce statistics on Avoidable Mortality

Vital Statistics Unit has also produced a USER GUIDE on cause of death data, to assist users in understanding the data and to better interpret it.

Related statistics

Alcohol Deaths

The annual Alcohol-Specific Deaths, Northern Ireland release presents statistics on the most recent official death registration data available on alcohol-specific mortality across Northern Ireland (NI). Alcohol death figures were first published in Northern Ireland in 2001. Figures in this release relate to deaths registered in Northern Ireland that are known to be direct consequences of alcohol misuse.

Drug-Related Deaths

The annual Drug-Related and Drug Misuse Deaths, Northern Ireland release presents statistics on the most recent official death registration data available on drug-specific mortality across Northern Ireland (NI). Drug related death figures were first published in Northern Ireland in 2009 with a time series going back to 1997. Figures in this release relate to deaths registered in Northern Ireland where the underlying cause of death indicated drug poisoning, abuse or dependence or a controlled drug was involved.

The 2010-2020 edition of Drug-related and drug-misuse deaths contains a revised version of drug-misuse deaths which makes data for NI comparable with England and Wales. More information is available from the 2010-2020 report and the information paper on drug-related deaths, link to which are below.

Healthcare-Associated Infection

On an annual basis NISRA produce detailed statistics relating to deaths from Healthcare-Associated Infections. Tables are produced for both Clostridium Difficile related deaths and MRSA related deaths and include age standardised mortality rates for these causes as well as information relating to age, gender, underlying cause of death and place of death.

Excess Winter Mortality

The number of deaths can vary depending on the season and in particular tend to increase in the winter. This section presents Excess Winter Mortality (EWM): the difference between the actual number of winter deaths in the 4 month period December to March and the expected number of deaths.

Cause of Death

Related statistics

Alcohol Deaths

Drug-Related Deaths

Healthcare-Associated Infection

Excess Winter Mortality

Suicide Deaths

Covid-19 related deaths

Most recent documents

Weekly deaths - Week ending 16 September 2022

Registrar General Annual Report 2021 Cause of Death

Weekly deaths - Week ending 9 September 2022

Weekly deaths - Week ending 2 September 2022