Historic trends

This page shows death trends in Glasgow over 160 years.

Deaths per 1,000 in Glasgow, 1855 – 2023

From the 1870s onward, the crude death rate in Glasgow declined, falling from approximately 30 per 1,000 to below 15 per 1,000 by the mid-1940s. The death rate increased again steadily between the early 1950s and the late 1980s before returning to a downward trend. In 2020 there was a sharp increase in the crude death rate due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which reached Scotland in early 2020. The mortality rate reduced to pre-pandemic levels by 2022.

Notes

The crude death rate is the number of deaths in the city divided by the city's population multiplied by 1,000 and does not take account of the age structure of the population. Crude death rates should not be used to compare health between different places.

Comparisons of mortality in different places can be made using age-standardised mortality rates and are available elsewhere in this section – for example for Scottish cities. 

In addition, estimates of life expectancy, which take account of population age structures and mortality rates at specific ages, can be used to compare overall health in different places. For comparisons of male and female life expectancy at a city and neighbourhood levels and by deprivation, refer to our health section.  

More detailed data on deaths in Scotland can be accessed from National Records of Scotland.

Last updated November 2024.