JSNA – People – Mortality

Last Updated: May 2024

Mortality

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Mortality statistics are a key indicator of public health and quality of life. The mortality dashboard is an interactive tool, providing detailed insight into mortality and life expectancy within Barnet. This is sorted into themes of standardised mortality ratio, age of mortality, leading and preventable causes of mortality, and life expectancy.

Headline Figures

  • Life expectancy in Barnet is 80.9 years in men and 84.9 years in women.
  • The standardised mortality ratio in Barnet is 697 in women and 914 in men. This has been declining since 2020. The standardised mortality ratio differs within the borough; it is highest in Coppetts and lowest in Garden Suburb.
  • The largest amount of deaths occurs in those aged 85 years and over, with mortality in this group representing 45.3% of all deaths.
  • Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in Barnet – the current cancer mortality rate is 247 per 100,000 in men and 180 per 100,000 in women. This rate varies by ward and is highest in Burnt Oak and lowest in Finchley Church End.
  • The standardised mortality rate of causes considered preventable in those aged 75 years and lower is 67.6. The highest preventable cause of death is cancer, followed by cardiovascular disease.

Narrative

Standardised Mortality Ratio: The standardised mortality ratio varies by sex in Barnet, with a ratio of 687 in women compared to one of 1,046 in men in 2021. These ratios are both significantly below the London and England averages. At the ward level, SMR is highest in Coppetts, with a ratio of 114; the lowest ratio was seen in Garden Suburb at 53.

Children: The neonatal mortality ratio, infant mortality ratio, and child mortality rate in Barnet are all similar to the London and England averages in 2019-21. The infant mortality ratio used to be below the London and England average but has risen by 40% since 2015-17 in Barnet.

Age: The percentage of deaths by age group has remained stable over time in Barnet. 45% of deaths occur in those aged 85+ years – this is significantly higher than the London and England average, most likely due to Barnet’s aging population. As an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the winter mortality ratio in Barnet rose by over 600% between Aug 2019 – July 2020 and August 2020 – July 2021.

Leading causes: The leading cause of mortality in Barnet is cancer, with a mortality rate of 212 per 100,000 in 2021 – cancer is the leading cause of mortality across London and England as well. Mortality from cancer was higher in men than in women. The second highest cause of mortality was COVID-19, with a rate of 146 per 100,000 – this also had higher mortality in men. The rate of leading causes of mortality vary on a ward-level. Burnt Oak has the highest mortality rate from cancer, respiratory disease, and stroke (2016-2020).

Preventable causes: In Barnet in 2021, the SMR from causes considered preventable was 67.6 per 100,000; the highest preventable cause was once again cancer at 35.2 per 100,000 – this is lower than both the London and England averages. Mortality from preventable causes varies at the ward-level, being highest in Burnt Oak at 105.5 per 100,000 and lowest in Garden Suburb at 43.7 per 100,000 (2016-2020).

Life expectancy: In 2021, the life expectancy in Barnet was 79.3 years in men and 83.9 years in females. General life expectancy varies at the ward level and in 2016-2020 was highest in Garden Suburb (90.5 years) and lowest in Burnt Oak (81.7 years). Healthy life expectancy as of 2018-20 was 63.3 years in men and 65.3 years in women in Barnet.

Further information

  • OHID Mortality Profile: bring together a selection of mortality indicators to provide a wide range of publicly available resources and make it easier to assess outcomes across a range of causes of death. 
  • OHID Productive Healthy Ageing Profile: provide data and further information on a wide range of topics relevant to our health as we age.

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