For the first time since the pandemic began, Covid-19 has dropped out of the top five leading causes of death in England and Wales, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Covid-19 was the leading cause of death in both 2020 and 2021, resulting in 73,766 deaths (12.1% of the total) and 67,350 deaths (11.5% of the total), respectively.
In 2022, coronavirus was the main cause of death for 22,454 people, or 3.9% of all deaths registered, making it the sixth leading cause overall.
In contrast, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease were the leading cause of death, accounting for 11.4% of the total deaths registered, up from 10.4% in 2021.
The success of the vaccination programme has been credited with reducing the number of Covid-related deaths by reducing the number of infected people who go on to become seriously ill or die.
Top five causes of death 2022
- dementia and Alzheimer’s (65,695 deaths and 11.4% of the total)
- ischaemic heart diseases (59,356 deaths and 10.3% of the total)
- chronic lower respiratory diseases (29,815 deaths, 5.2%)
- cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes and aneurysms (29,274 deaths, 5.1%)
- trachea, bronchus and lung cancer (28,571 deaths, 5.0%)
