Accidental Deaths

There were 1,657 accidental deaths registered in Scotland in 2011, on the basis of the new coding rules (see below). It is estimated that only 1,295 of these deaths would have been counted as accidental under the old coding rules. Coincidentally, that is the same as the number of accidental deaths that were registered in 2010, so the overall total number of accidental deaths would have remained the same had there been no change to the coding rules. Further information can be found in Table 1.

The number of accidental deaths varies from year to year. Chart 1 shows the 5-year moving annual average (as an indication of any overall trend) and the likely range of statistical variability around it (which is explained in the Accidental deaths – The definition of the statistics page on our website). As will be seen, the number of accidental deaths fell steadily until the mid-1990s. Since then, the overall total has not changed much: the figures for 1995 to 2011 (using the ‘old basis’ estimate for 2011), have all been between roughly 1,250 and 1,400 (the actual range being from 1,261, in 2008, to 1,390, in 2004). For most of the period, the 5-year moving annual average has been between 1,300 and 1,350, and almost all the year-to-year fluctuations in the numbers have been within the likely range of statistical variability. Further information can be found in Table 1.

As indicated earlier, new rules for coding the causes of death mean that the overall total numbers of accidental deaths for 2010 and 2011 are not directly comparable. How ‘drug abuse’ deaths from ‘acute intoxication’, and ‘alcohol intoxication’ deaths, are coded has changed: in 2010 and earlier years, they were counted under ‘mental and behavioural disorders’; for 2011 onwards, they are classified under ‘poisoning’, so some of them will be counted as accidental deaths. More information about this is available from the Accidental deaths – The definition of the statistics page on our website. National Records of Scotland (NRS) has estimated what the figures for 2011 would have been, had the data been coded using the old rules, in order that users of these statistics can see the underlying changes between 2010 and 2011 and the longer-term trends without the break in series caused by the introduction of the new coding rules. Of the deaths that were registered in 2011, it appears that 362 more were counted as being due to ‘accidental poisoning’ under the new coding rules than would have been counted under the old coding rules. NRS hopes to continue to estimate the number of accidental deaths on the basis of the old coding rules for at least a few more years.

Slightly over half of all accidental deaths are men: in 2011, 54% using the figures on the old basis, and 59% on the new basis. The percentage has not changed much from year-to-year, being between 51% and 59% (on the old basis) in every year since 1979 (further information can be found in Table 1).

With effect from the start of 2000, there were several marked changes in the way that accidental deaths were coded (further information available on the Accidental deaths - The definition of the statistics page of our website), so the remaining tables, and most of the points below, cover only the figures for 2000 onwards.

In 2011, using the figures on the new basis, the most common cause of accidental deaths were falls (723 deaths, or 44% of the total number of accidental deaths on the new basis) and poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances (461, or 28%). Land transport accidents caused 212 deaths (13%) and 58 people (4%) died as a result of exposure to smoke, fire and flames. Each of the other causes that were identified, such as ‘drowning or submersion’ and ‘other threats to breathing’ (e.g. choking on food), accounted for only a small percentage of the total number of accidental deaths. For 72 accidental deaths (4%), NRS was told about the type of injury but not how it had occurred. Information about the kinds of causes of death that are included in each category of accidental death is available from the Categories of Causes of Accidental Death page of this website. Detailed breakdowns of each year's numbers of accidental deaths by cause, age and sex can be obtained from the annual editions of Vital Events Reference Table 6.4, which are available via the Vital Events Reference Tables section on our website.

Although the annual total number of accidental deaths has not varied much since the mid-1990s, there have been marked changes in the numbers of deaths from some causes. Using 5-year moving annual averages (rather than figures for single years, in order that the comparisons are not affected greatly by one year having an unusual value), deaths from transport accidents have fallen in recent years (from an annual average of 348 in 2000-2004 to an annual average of 265 in 2007-2011), and deaths from exposure to smoke, fire and flames have declined (from an annual average of 78 in 2000-2004 to an annual average of 52 in 2007-2011), but there has been a marked increase in accidental poisoning deaths (from an annual average of 42 in 2000-2004 to an annual average of 93 in 2007-2011, using the ‘old basis’ figure for 2011). However, the number of deaths from falls has remained around the same level throughout the period: its 5-year moving annual average shows relatively little change. Further information can be found in Table 2.

Table 2 does not provide figures for 1979 to 1999 because deaths which were registered then were coded using a classification which grouped some of the causes of accidental deaths differently from the present classification. However, based on the categories that were used at the time, the main causes of the large fall in the total number of accidental deaths over the 20 years from 1979 to 1999 were a drop of 631 in deaths due to transport accidents, 178 fewer deaths from falls, a reduction of 105 in deaths caused by fire and flames, and a fall of 111 in deaths caused by obstruction of the respiratory tract (e.g. choking) or suffocation.

The likelihood of accidental death varies with age. In 2011, using the figures on the new basis, the 85+ age-group had the largest number of accidental deaths (425, or 26%), followed by 80-84 year olds (187, or 11%), people aged 75-79 (118, or 7%) and 35-39 year olds (108, or 7%). This reflects the fact that the main causes of accidental deaths are falls (for the elderly) and drugs (for people of perhaps half their age). The number of accidental deaths of a particular age may vary from year to year, but the 5-year moving annual averages (using the 2011 figure on the old basis) for the different age-groups do not appear to have changed greatly over the period covered by these figures. Further information can be found in Table 3.

Tables 4 and 5 give figures for each Health Board and Council area, some of which can fluctuate markedly (in percentage terms) from year to year, so the tables include 5-year moving annual averages, which should indicate better any overall trend.