Ards and North Down has highest death rate among NI’s council areas

ARDS and North Down has the highest death rate in Northern Ireland, analysis shows.

Ten deaths per 1,000 residents took place in the area in 2017.

Proportionately, that was the highest rate of all 11 council areas here. Mid-Ulster had the lowest death rate (7.1 deaths per 1,000 people).

The figures emerged after analysis of data held by the Office for National Statistics.

In terms of total deaths, Belfast had the highest toll. There were 3,166 deaths in the city council area in 2017 — three times higher than the number of people who passed away in other council areas in Northern Ireland, although Belfast’s population is larger. Women accounted for 51% of deaths in the Belfast area.

Mid-Ulster recorded the lowest number of deaths with men accounting for 51% of the 1,036 total.

The second highest number of deaths occurred in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (1,646) where only 48% were women. Proportionately, the number of deaths per 1,000 was 7.8.

Ards and North Down had the highest rate.

More than 53% of the 1,597 people who passed away there were women and the overall death toll (10.0) compared to a Number of deaths per 1,000 people which makes Mid-Ulster the council

area with the lowest death rate

rate of 9.3 in Belfast.

It is significantly lower than the highest rate in the UK per 1,000, which was recorded in Tendring in Essex (15.5) but it is also nearly three times higher than the lowest rate of 3.5 which was recorded in Tower Hamlets.

Fermanagh and Omagh recorded the second lowest number of deaths (1,001) with a near 50/50 balance in the number of men and women.

Antrim and Newtownabbey saw 1,192 deaths with more of the deceased being female.

The number of people who died in Derry City and Strabane (1,211) was two-and-half times lower compared to Belfast, although proportionally the difference was not as extreme. Derry and Strabane’s death rate was 8.0. The crude death rate stats do not take age into account or areas with much higher percentages of elderly people.

It follows news that life expectancy is falling across many parts of the United Kingdom which is lagging near the bottom of the league table of Western countries — lower than Switzerland, Italy and New Zealand.

The death rate per 1,000 was 9.5 in Mid and East Antrim; 8.7 in Causeway Coast and Glens; 8.6 in Fermanagh and Omagh; 8.4 in Antrim and Newtownabbey; 8.4 in Lisburn and Castlereagh; and 7.9 in Newry, Mourne and Down.