Accidental deaths in Wales 'much higher' than England
People in Wales are 40% more likely to die in an accident than people in England
Wales has one of the highest rate of accidental deaths in the UK, reveals a new report from safety charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
Accidents killed 44 per 100,000 people in Wales in 2023/24, compared to a UK-wide average of 34.
After Scotland (51 deaths per 100,000 people) Wales is the second most dangerous UK nation for accidental deaths, ahead of Northern Ireland (39) and England (32), and means...
People in Wales are 40% more likely to die in an accident than those in England
RoSPA’s Annual Review of Accidents also highlights particular accident hotspots.
Blaenau Gwent has the third highest accidental death rate of any local authority in England and Wales (67 per 100,000 people), with Conwy (56 per 100,000 people), Pembrokeshire (55) and Carmarthenshire (55) also in the top 10.
Deaths from accidents are rising across the UK, and hospital admissions due to accidents are putting immense pressure on the NHS- according to the charity.
RoSPA found that an estimated 23,000 people – more than the capacity of the 02 Arena – lose their lives to accidents every year, while almost 900,000 people were admitted to hospital, the equivalent of the population of Devon passing through the NHS.
Hospital admissions also rose by a rate of 3% over one year in Great Britain, including a 17% rate of increase in admissions caused by animals and 6% by poisonings.
“Accidents devastate lives in an instant"
Becky Hickman, CEO of RoSPA, said:
“Accidents devastate lives in an instant. They are often sudden, violent, and shocking, leaving families and communities to cope with consequences that can last a lifetime. What makes this devastation even harder to bear is the knowledge that so many of these incidents are entirely preventable.
"Our Annual Review of Accidents shows we are still not doing enough to reduce avoidable harm, life-changing injuries and personal tragedies. From our roads to our workplaces, the homes we live in to where we spend our leisure time, people in Britain are at increasing and unacceptable risk of suffering a serious accident. And it is those who are already vulnerable – young children, the elderly, and people in deprived communities – who are in the greatest danger.
"By keeping a close eye on trends, learning from patterns of injury, and acting on the evidence, we can help ensure that individuals, communities, and the wider society are better protected from the consequences of accidental injury.”
There was an 8% increase in the rate of all accidental deaths in the UK in 2023/24. While falls are the biggest killers across all four nations, there has been a particularly shocking rise of 29% in Wales, where over 700 people died in one year, making Wales the most dangerous country for falls.
The rate of road transport deaths was also higher in Wales than the rest of the UK.