National Records of Scotland

Preserving the past, Recording the present, Informing the future

Births, Deaths and Other Vital Events - Quarterly Figures

Changes to methodology for excess deaths

The methodology used to calculate excess deaths changed in February 2024. More information on these changes, including figures comparing the old and new methods, can be found on the ONS website.

As a result of the methodology changes, we are no longer producing as many breakdowns of excess deaths as we previously did. Information on future developments to the new excess deaths methodology can be found on the ONS website.

The new methodology was used for the first time for the figures for the Quarter 4 2023 publication onwards.