Deaths: data introduction
The main source of deaths data in Scotland is the National Records of Scotland (NRS) (death registrations).
These ScotPHO pages contain a limited selection of charts to give an overview of all-cause mortality and the most frequent causes of death. All rates are based on NRS mid-year population estimates rebased following the 2011 Census.
Please note that there are examples of cause-specific mortality within the relevant topics of this website (e.g. coronary heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, etc.).
The ScotPHO Profiles include some mortality indicators for all-cause and cause-specific mortality, for geographies ranging from Scotland down (in some cases) to intermediate zone.
The table below shows the dimensions and geographies for which deaths data are presented within the data pages which follow.
Table 1: Data for Scotland presented in the Deaths data pages
| Data dimensions/geographies | Data presented? (Y=yes; N=no) |
|---|---|
| By gender | N (but data are age-sex standardised) |
| By age group | N (but data are age-sex standardised) |
| By NHS board area | Y |
| By council area | Y |
| By deprivation group | Y |
| Time trend | Y |
| National target | n/a |
| Comparison with UK/GB | N (but links given) |
| International comparison | N (but links given) |
Please note: If you require the most up-to-date data available, please check the data sources directly as new data may have been published since these data pages were last updated. Although we endeavour to ensure that the data pages are kept up-to-date, there may be a time lag between new data being published and the relevant ScotPHO web pages being updated.
