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Air Pollution: Death

Asked by Tim FarronLiberal DemocratDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 20 January 2026UIN 103232

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many attributable deaths there were from fine particulate matter, PM2.5, were there in (a) East Midlands, (b) East of England, (c) Greater London, (d) North East, (e) North West, (f) South East, (g) South West, (h) West Midlands, (i) Yorkshire and the Humber, and (j) England in each year since 2018 using COMEAP's latest methodology.

Answered by Ashley Dalton

The number of deaths attributable to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) is not annually calculated for each region. The current estimate of attributable deaths in the United Kingdom for 2019 was 29,000 to 43,000 deaths for adults aged 30 years old and over.

The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution is annually calculated for each region and represents the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 years old and over, attributed to PM2.5. This indicator is calculated using the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants’ updated concentration-response-function, and figures for the years 2018 to 2023 are available at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework/data#page/4/gid/1000043/pat/15/par/E92000001/ati/6/are/E12000004/iid/93861/age/230/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/ovw-do-0_car-do-0

Estimates for 2024 will be available later in 2026.

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