Avoidable mortality fell across England in 2025, reaching the lowest rate in the recorded series, while a pronounced gap between the most and least deprived communities remained. The figures cover deaths registered among people aged under 75 from causes classified as preventable through public-health action or treatable through timely and effective healthcare.
England recorded 110,804 avoidable deaths, equal to 20.7 per cent of all registered deaths. Its age-standardised rate was 219.5 per 100,000 people, 3.1 per cent below the 2024 figure of 226.6. The rate was lower than the previous record, 221.5 in 2019. Age standardisation adjusts for differences in the age structure of populations, making comparisons across years and places more meaningful; it is a rate, not a count of individual deaths.
Wales recorded 8,011 avoidable deaths, or 22.4 per cent of registered deaths. Its age-standardised rate declined by 0.8 per cent, from 271.5 to 269.2 per 100,000. The Welsh rate was described as similar to pre-pandemic levels, but it was not a record low. The England and Wales percentages and rates should be read separately: each reflects the country’s own registrations and population.
London’s rate falls, but remains above the lowest
Every English region recorded a lower avoidable-mortality rate than in 2024. London’s rate fell by 5 per cent to 191.9 per 100,000, with 481 fewer avoidable deaths than the previous year. This was the largest percentage decline among English regions. It was not the lowest regional rate: the South East recorded 190.6 per 100,000, compared with 191.9 in London. The regional comparison describes a change in a standardised rate and a change in the count; those are related but distinct measures.
The North East had the highest rate, at 270.0 per 100,000, followed by the North West at 264.1. Rates declined by 3.6 per cent in the North East and 3.5 per cent in the North West. The gap between these regions and the South East or London shows that a national improvement did not produce identical outcomes across the country.
Deprivation remains closely associated with the rates
The largest contrast in the release was between areas ranked most and least deprived. Across the sex and country comparisons presented, rates in the most deprived areas were between 3.3 and 3.8 times those in the least deprived. In England, the rate for males was 547.8 per 100,000 in the most deprived decile and 144.7 in the least deprived. For females, the corresponding rates were 327.5 and 95.2. In Wales, the male rates were 611.7 and 162.6; female rates were 393.6 and 117.9.
These rankings are relative measures within each nation. England uses its Index of Multiple Deprivation, while Wales uses the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, built from data specific to that country. The bulletin cautions that the two nations’ deprivation figures are not directly comparable. The differences show an association between deprivation and avoidable mortality; they do not, on their own, establish why any person died or prove a single cause for the gap.
In both countries, tumours remained the leading cause group, followed by diseases of the circulatory system. The reported 2025 age-standardised rates for tumours were 70.4 per 100,000 in England and 79.6 in Wales. For circulatory diseases, they were 60.7 and 73.0 respectively. For causes counted as both preventable and treatable, the statistical method allocates half to each category, so the categories are not simple separate tallies of unique deaths.
The statistics are based on death registrations and refer to calendar-year registrations. They provide a broad picture of population health rather than a forecast, a measure of every potentially preventable death, or an assessment of any individual’s care. The fall in the national rates is a measurable improvement, but the persistent deprivation gradient and regional variation show why a single England-wide figure cannot describe the experience of every community.
