Fewer people are dying, with mortality levels falling to a record low in the first half of of 2025. This fall was driven by a significant drop in mortality among those of pensionable age.
Data from the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) show that mortality for the first half of 2025 was lower than in any other equivalent six month period, and 0.5 per cent below the level seen in the same period in 2024. These figures relate to an analysis of deaths recorded in England and Wales.
However the figures show there is considerable variation by age and sex. Overall the data shows mortality in the first half of 2025 was 5 per cent lower than the 2015-2024 average for males and females aged 75-84 — but only 0.2 per cent below the 2015-2024 average for males aged 45-64.
This fall in mortality has also been helped by far fewer Covid deaths. Overall there were around 2,300 deaths involving Covid-19 registered in the first half of 2025, compared to around 5,300 in the first half of 2024 and 11,700 in the first half of 2023.
Cobus Daneel, chair of the CMI Mortality Projections Committee, says: “Overall mortality in the first half of 2025 was at a historic low. For most age groups, the last twenty-four months have seen stable low levels of mortality. A notable exception to this is males aged 45-64, whose mortality remains above pre-pandemic levels.”
He adds: “Deaths recorded as involving Covid-19 have continued to fall, accounting for fewer than 1 per cent of deaths in the first half of 2025.”
