Black people are four times more likely to die of the virus than whites, analysis finds

men and women are more than four times more likely to die a coronavirus-related death than white people, new analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests.

Black males in England and Wales are 4.2 times more likely, while black women are 4.3 times more likely to die after contracting the virus, after accounting for age.

People of Bangladeshi and Pakistani, Indian, and mixed ethnicities also had an increased risk of death involving Covid-19 compared with those of white ethnicity, the ONS found.

The analysis looked at how coronavirus has affected different ethnic groups from March 2 to April 10, registered by 17 April.

As ethnicity is not recorded on death certificates, the ONS linked these to the 2011 Census which includes self-reported ethnicity. After taking account of other factors, such as health, disability, household composition and area deprivation, black men and women were 1.9 times more likely to die with Covid-19 than those of white ethnicity.

Bangladeshi and Pakistani males were 1.8 times more likely, and Bangladeshi and Pakistani females 1.6 times more likely, than white people when these factors included.

The ONS found increased mortality rates due to Covid-19 for all ethnic minority groups, except for in Chinese women.

It said a “substantial part of the difference in Covid-19 mortality between ethnic groups is explained by the different CIRBLACK cumstances in which members of those groups are known to live, such as areas with socio-economic deprivation”.

It continued: “Geographic and socio-economic factors were accounting for over half of the difference in risk between males and females of black and white ethnicity. However, these factors do not explain all of the difference, suggesting that other causes are still to be identified.”

Overall, 83.8% of the deaths occurred in people of white ethnicity, with black people making up the largest minority ethnic group, accounting for 6% of the overall deaths recorded within the date range, the ONS said. Its findings are similar to NHS England data which, when ethnicity could be established, found 82.7% of deaths were in white people and 5.7% in black people.