Shocking new ONS statistics underline the urgency of the PM's focus on homelessness. c1,000 homeless people died in 2025. The 2nd consecutive year at that level. Most of these deaths were men in their 40s & 50s. Around a third were a direct result of drug poisoning. www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

The maximum human lifespan is almost exactly 1 million hours - only around 100 people have lived longer.

Katelyn Burns@katelynburns.com · last mo.

Tell me a fun fact.

It looks like there may have been around 1,000 additional deaths in England and Wales during the August heatwave. The chart shows deaths occurring in each week of 2025 and 2026. I've added an estimate of deaths which have not yet been registered, and marked heatwave weeks with red borders. 1/3

The CMI has published its latest analysis of age-standardised death rates in England and Wales. Despite the summer heatwaves, the year-to-date mortality rate for 2026 is significantly lower than any previous year. Deaths from flu and pneumonia especially low. www.actuaries.org.uk/system/files...

By way of illustration, look how clearly the heatwave stands out in week 33 of 2025. Then note that deaths have been at that same level in four of the last five weeks. The simplified 5-week average I’ve used as illustration here doesn’t work well when heatwaves keep coming week after week.

Stuart McDonald@actuarybyday.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Although the early July heatwave (week 28-29) does not look remarkable against the 5-week average, it is worth noting that deaths were about 5% higher (500 a week) compared to 2025. That's a bigger increase than expected from population ageing, when we might have expected a dip after June peak. 4/4

ANNOUNCEMENT: All our sundials will be out of order this evening between about 6pm and 8pm, we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Normal service will resume tomorrow. In unrelated news, enjoy the eclipse later... Photos: Mike Selby, Annapurna Mellor, Chris Davies, John Millar

An update on the impact of the summer heatwaves on deaths in England & Wales. The chart shows deaths occurring in each week of 2025 and 2026 in dark blue. I've added an estimate of deaths which have not yet been registered in lighter blue, and marked heatwave weeks with red borders. 1/4

Burnham announces: 1. Casey will bring forward her review by a year to summer 2027. He wants it to focus on creating a National Care Service that is ‘highly integrated’ with the NHS. 2. He will look at improving pay and progression of social care workforce. 3. Cross party talks to begin today.

I'm interested in finding and potentially supporting people who are interested in doing long-form writing on the big efforts in global health: Gavi, Global Fund, PEPFAR, etc. If this is you or someone you know, please make yourself known!

With each passing week the impact of the summer heatwaves on deaths becomes clearer. The chart shows deaths occurring in each week of 2025 and 2026 in dark blue. I've added an estimate of deaths which have not yet been registered in lighter blue, and marked heatwave weeks with red borders. 1/4

@statbel-en.bsky.social released the Belgian death data up to 5/7 and, as in France, the heat wave had a huge effect on the 45-64 age band In fact, this age band saw higher weekly deaths than at any moment of the pandemic (and probably since WWII) A few more comments below 1/

Only 12 words matter in this forecast of global obesity trends! "the effects of pharmaceuticals such as GLP-1R agonists may alter these trends". www.theactuary.com/2026/07/23/o...

With the release of today's data the impact of the UK summer heatwaves is becoming increasingly clear. Deaths were unusually high for the time of year during the May and June heatwaves, and unusually low during the weeks in between. Need to wait a few more weeks to see the impact of July heatwave.

News outlets are leading with modelling suggesting 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes during recent heatwaves. And yet recent death rates are the lowest on record. A short thread on what recent mortality data actually tells us. Spoiler: not much! 1/5 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thousands will have died in UK's unprecedented May and June heatwaves

An early estimate suggests more than 2,700 people will have died from heat-related causes during the UK's exceptionally hot weather in recent months.

bbc.co.uk

The last 3 items on our Alexa shopping list are: - Vegan - Jerry’s - Two tubs of Ben So no, I’m still not all that worried about the AI jobocalypse.

I wonder why the Govt issued its decision not to compensate WASPI women at 5pm? www.gov.uk/government/p...

Government’s new decision: Women’s State Pension age communications

gov.uk

How long are you likely to live? And what are your chances of making it to 100? Today ONS published projections of life expectancy (LE) by age and sex. That means an update to their interactive LE calculator. Enter your age and sex for your LE, chance of making it to pension age, age 90 and 100.

Deaths rates in 2026 remain remarkably low, well below 2025's record low. Interesting question for actuaries is the extent to which this is indicative of the future, or whether the loss of the most frail during the pandemic means that rates are artificially low at the moment. Good news anyway!

Healthy life expectancy probably doesn't mean what you think it means. Often cited in the State Pension Age debate, recent headlines suggest we’re spending fewer years in good health - but there is a risk of misinterpreting these findings. This @financialtimes.com chart helps explain why.

A landmark day! The Tobacco and Vapes Bill received Royal Assent. It is now illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born from 2009. Our analysis found that 18-year-olds who never smoke could spend around a decade longer in good health than those who start smoking at 18 and remain lifelong smokers.

Includes comments from me on the impact on healthcare and pensions. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

More UK deaths than births expected every year from now on

The UK population is expected to grow at a slower rate than previously thought owing to a sharp fall in migration and declining fertility rates

bbc.co.uk

Today’s ONS projections show the UK population ageing further over the next decade, with pensioner numbers rising faster than the working-age population even after State Pension age increases to 67. That will add to pressure on the NHS, the State Pension and the wider public finances.

A nice companion piece to @actuarybyday.bsky.social's post yesterday. bsky.app/profile/actu...

Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I have done the workings on whether Europe is doing as well as the USA after all, once you tot up all the social ills risked by the typical US citizen. open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...

If the UK were a US state, how would it rank? It depends entirely on what you measure! Fascinating table showing a startlingly different picture depending on the choice of metric. Source: www.linkedin.com/posts/diogo-...

Great to see this landmark bill agreed, with the prospect of a truly smoke-free generation, and more limitations on vaping. Smoking remains a major cause of ill health and early death and contributes to persistent health and life expectancy inequalities. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed

The

bbc.co.uk

Death rates for cervical cancer in the United Kingdom have fallen by 80% since 1950— Cervical cancer death rates among women in the United Kingdom have fallen by around 80% since 1950. You can see this reduction in the chart. This progress happened for a couple of key reasons.

If I were a government minister and I had a magic wand, I think 'make people more aware of pensions and how they work' is the thing that solves so many political problems.

Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 6mo ago

used a little online calculator to find out how much I actually need to save every month to retire at 75 (lol) as someone who started saving for a pension at 34 and I should: not have done that on such a nice and sunny Saturday afternoon

Are resident doctors still underpaid? The BMA’s case for industrial action is undermined by the way the union uses data. 1/6 www.thetimes.com/article/895f...

New CMI report on death rates in the first 3 months of 2026. Death rates were at record lows this winter! Based on death registrations, every week of 2026 saw death rates at or below the corresponding week of 2025, which itself had record low mortality. (1/3) www.actuaries.org.uk/learn-and-de...

What's one of the best ways to measure population health? We'd argue it's Healthy Life Expectancy - capturing not just how long we live, but how many of those years are spent in good health. New figures are out today. The picture isn't good. At a national level, England's HLE continues to fall.