Over 5,000 asbestos-related disease deaths per year
Updated 24/07/2024
Inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause cancers such as mesothelioma and lung cancer, and other serious lung diseases such as asbestosis and pleural thickening.
2,257 mesothelioma deaths in 2022, with a similar number of lung cancer deaths linked to past exposures to asbestos.
493 deaths in 2022 mentioning asbestosis on the death certificate (excluding deaths that also mention mesothelioma).
Chart notes
- Latest available data is for 2022 for mesothelioma and asbestosis deaths and 2022 for IIDB cases.
- Data for 2020 and 2021 (shown inside the shaded grey column) may have been particularly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Some individuals with occupational diseases who then developed COVID-19 may have died earlier than otherwise. Delays in death certification or omission of occupational disease recording on death certificates of those with COVID-19 could also have occurred.
- Assessments of new IIDB cases were substantially reduced in 2020 and may also have been affected during 2021, though this less likely for mesothelioma due to its prioritisation for assessment
- There were 2,257 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain in 2022. This is slightly lower than the 2290 deaths in 2021, and substantially lower than the average of 2529 deaths per year over period 2012 to 2020.
- Male deaths reduced in the last two years whereas female deaths remained broadly level:
- There were 1,838 male deaths in 2022 compared with 1,883 in 2021 and an average of 2107 deaths per year over the period 2012-2020.
- There were 419 female deaths in 2022 compared with 407 in 2021 and an average of 422 deaths per year over the period 2012-2020.
- These trends are consistent with projections that annual deaths in males would reduce during the 2020s whereas in females there would continue be 400-500 annual deaths per year during the 2020s, after which numbers would begin to reduce.
- An earlier decline in annual male deaths may be due to particularly heavy asbestos exposures in certain industries that mainly affected men (such as shipbuilding) being eliminated first – whereas exposures due to the use of asbestos in construction, which affected many men, but also some women – continued after 1970.
- Increased variability in the figures, particularly for 2020 and 2021, may have been caused by various factors associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
- Over 70% of annual deaths for both males and females now occur in those aged over 75 years. Annual deaths in this age group continue to increase while deaths below age 65 are decreasing.
- There were 1,755 new cases of mesothelioma assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) in 2022 of which 250 were female. This compares with 1,920 new cases in 2021, of which 325 were female.
- Men who worked in the building industry when asbestos was used extensively in the past continue to be most at risk of mesothelioma
- Annual mesothelioma deaths increased substantially over a number of decades, largely as a result of asbestos exposure prior to 1980. Figures for the latest two years suggest overall numbers may now be starting to reduce.
Further Information
Mesothelioma Statistics for Great Britain 2024
Work-Related Fatal Injuries in Great Britain 2024
Asbestos-Related Disease Statistics Great Britain 2024
Health and safety at work summary statistics for Great Britain 2023
Other useful documents/links
Mesothelioma deaths by Geographical Area 2024
Mesothelioma mortality by occupation statistics in Great Britain 2024