HSE Latest Annual Work-related Fatalities:
Updated 07/07/2025
The information herewith relates to Health and Safety Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive in 2025.
There are around 5,000 Asbestos-related disease deaths per year, including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.
2,218 Mesothelioma deaths in 2023, with a similar estimated number of lung cancer deaths linked to past asbestos exposures.
497 deaths in 2023 mentioning asbestosis on the death certificate (*Excluding deaths that also mention mesothelioma)
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that takes many years to develop following the inhalation of asbestos fibres but is usually rapidly fatal following symptom onset. Annual deaths in Britain increased steeply over the last 50 years, with many deaths attributed to past occupational asbestos exposures because of the widespread industrial use of asbestos during 1950-1980.
Chart notes
- Latest available data is for 2023 for deaths and 2023 for IIDB cases.
- Data for 2020 and 2021 (shown inside the shaded grey column) may have been particularly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Some individuals with occupational diseases who then developed COVID-19 may have died earlier than otherwise. Delays in death certification or omission of occupational disease recording on death certificates of those with COVID-19 could also have occurred.
- Assessments of new IIDB cases were substantially reduced in 2020 and may also have been affected during 2021, though this less likely for mesothelioma than other diseases due to its prioritisation for assessment
There were 2,218 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain in 2023. This is lower than the 2,280 deaths in 2022, and substantially lower than the average of 2,508 deaths per year over 10-year period 2011 to 2020.
- Male deaths reduced in the last three years whereas female deaths remained broadly level:
- There were 1,802 male deaths in 2023 compared with 1,856 in 2022 and an average of 2,091 deaths per year over the period 2011-2020.
- There were 416 female deaths in 2023 compared with 424 in 2022 and an average of 417 deaths per year over the period 2011-2020.
- These trends are consistent with earlier projections that annual deaths in males would reduce during the 2020s whereas in females there would continue be 400-500 annual deaths per year during the 2020s, after which numbers would begin to reduce.
- An earlier decline in annual male deaths may be due to particularly heavy asbestos exposures in certain industries that mainly affected men (such as shipbuilding) being eliminated first – whereas exposures due to the use of asbestos in construction, which affected many men, but also some women – continued after 1970.
- Over 70% of annual deaths for both males and females now occur in those aged over 75 years. Annual deaths in this age group continue to increase while deaths below age 65 are decreasing.
- There were 1,605 new cases of mesothelioma assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) in 2023 of which 205 were female. This compares with 1,755 new cases in 2022, of which 250 were female.
- Men who worked in the building industry when asbestos was used extensively in the past continue to be most at risk of mesothelioma
Further Information
Mesothelioma Statistics for Great Britain 2025
Work Related Fatal Injuries in Great Britain 2025
Asbestos-Related Disease Statistics, Great Britain 2025
Health and Safety at Work Summary Statistics for Great Britain 2024
Mesothelioma Deaths by Geographical Area, 2025
Mesothelioma Mortality by Occupation Statistics in Great Britain, 2025