Covid drops out of top five causes of death for first time since start of the pandemic

Covid-19 has dropped out of the top five leading causes of death in England and Wales for the first time since the pandemic began, figures show.

Coronavirus was recorded as the leading cause of death for 22,454 people in 2022, or 3.9% of all recorded deaths, making it the sixth leading cause of death overall.

In both 2020 and 2021, Covid-19 was the leading cause of death, with 73,766 deaths (12.1% of the total) and 67,350 (11.5%), respectively.

In contrast, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease were the leading cause in England and Wales in 2022, with 65,967 deaths recorded (11.4% of the total), up from 61,250 (10.4%) in 2021.

The other causes in the top five were ischemic heart disease (59,356 deaths and 10.3% of the total); chronic lower respiratory tract disease (29,815 deaths, 5.2%); cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes and aneurysms (29,274 deaths, 5.1%); and trachea, bronchus and lung cancer (28,571 deaths, 5.0%).

X-ray of lung (file photo). Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease were the leading cause in England and Wales by 2022. The other causes in the top five were ischemic heart disease; chronic diseases of the lower respiratory tract; cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes and aneurysms; and trachea, bronchus and lung cancer

The figures are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Levels of covid-19 among the population of England and Wales reached record highs last year as new variants of the virus brought the estimated number of weekly infections to 3.9 million at the beginning of January and 4.4 million at the end of March.

The fact that by 2022 the number of deaths from covid-19 has decreased, not increased, reflects the success of the vaccination program, which has greatly reduced the number of infected people who become seriously ill or die.

Vaccines were first rolled out across the country in early 2021, after which booster doses were made available to older and vulnerable groups.

Sarah Caul, ONS’ head of mortality analysis, said the numbers represent a “significant change” in the leading causes of death since the start of the pandemic.

“For the third year in a row, we’ve seen more men die than women, reversing the trend since the 1980s,” she added.

In England and Wales, about 292,064 male deaths were recorded last year, compared to 285,096 female deaths.

The leading cause of death in men was ischemic heart disease, with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease the leading cause in women.

This is ‘probably due to the fact that women live longer on average than men’, said Ms Caul.

When the data for 2022 is broken down by age and gender, Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death among men aged 80 and over – but this is the only group in which the virus was in the top five.

The total number of deaths recorded in England and Wales last year (577,160) was lower than in 2021 (586,334) and 2020 (607,922).

However, the total was 6.2% above the five-year average, with 33,747 “excess” or excess deaths.

High levels of excess deaths have been recorded in all three years of the pandemic, but Covid-19 is likely to have played only a minor role in the 2022 figures.

Health experts have suggested other factors contributing to last year’s extra deaths may include seasonal viruses such as flu, the impact of the summer heat wave, strain on the NHS and access to medical services.