ESDS Government

Vital Statistics data

There are two sources of Vital Statistic data:

• ONS publish information at local authority level (or equivalent) on their web site. ESDS Government has taken that information and presented it in a form to find specific tables across years.
• Figures with sub-local authority geography are available for registered members. Various figures are available from 1981 to the latest data - we have a table showing years, VS and availability.

Types of Vital Statistics

Available data vary by year - more details.

Table VS1

The focus of this table is on births. In terms of geography, the same information is available at national, regional and local authority district levels. Table VS1 has counts of births and stillbirths by sex, within and outside marriage. Counts of births and stillbirths are given by "Place of Confinement" categorised by NHS and non-NHS hospitals, At Home and Elsewhere.

Various summary measures are given including Crude Birth Rate, Standardised Fertility Ratio, General Fertility Rate and Period Fertility Rate (more commonly known as Total Fertility Rate). Also given are Proportion under 2,500 grams and various death rates including Stillbirth Rate, Infant Mortality Rate and Perinatal Birth Rate.

Table VS2

Table VS2 is split into three files focusing on mothers, maternities and birthweights. Information on these tables is available at national, regional and local authority district levels.

The table focusing on mothers has counts of births and stillbirths by age of mother and number of previous live born children. Numbers of pre-marital conceptions are also included.

The table on maternities has counts on births outside and within marriage, by place of confinement categorised by NHS and non-NHS hospitals, At Home and Elsewhere and by numbers of previous live born children.

The table with data on birthweights has various categories from under 1,000 grams to 4,000 plus grams by live births and stillbirths.

Table VS3

This table focuses on mortality. Information is available at national, regional and local authority district levels. Table VS3 has data by cause of death, by age-group and by sex available.

Table VS4

Table VS4 is split into two files both of which focus on mortality. Although less demographic detail is available than in the VS3, more geographic detail is given since the VS4 are at electoral ward scale.

Table VS4DL has counts of deaths by sex and broad cause. There is no age information on this table. The broad causes of death (see below) in VS4DL are selected as being common causes and/or those which are of regular research interest. International Classification of Disease Codes (ICD), contemporary to the year of the file, are used.

Table VS4D has counts of births by sex and of deaths by broad age-group and sex, but not by cause. The data are at electoral ward scale.