Asbestos Health Statistics

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Asbestos Health Statistics

The UK's Biggest Workplace Killer

HSE Latest Annual Work-related Fatalities:

Updated 01/07/2026

The information herewith relates to Health and Safety Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive in 2026.

There are around 5,000 Asbestos-related disease deaths per year, including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.

2,146 Mesothelioma deaths in 2024, with a similar estimated number of lung cancer deaths linked to past asbestos exposures.

503 deaths in 2024 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 2024 for mesothelioma and asbestosis deaths and 2024 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 due to its prioritisation for assessment.

There were 2,146 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain in 2024. This is lower than the 2,255 deaths in 2023 and substantially lower than the average of 2,508 deaths per year over 10-year period 2011 to 2020.

• There were 1,771 male deaths in 2024 compared with 1,833 in 2023 and an average of 2,091 deaths per year over the period 2011-2020.

• There were 375 female deaths in 2024 compared with 422 in 2023 and an average of 417 deaths per year over the period 2011-2020.

• Updated projections incorporating the latest data to 2024 show that deaths in males are expected to reduce during the 2020s whereas in females a decline may not be clear until towards the end of the 2020s.

• 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. 7 Asbestos-related disease statistics in Great Britain, 2026

• There were 1,680 new cases of mesothelioma assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) in 2024 of which 195 were female. This compares with 1,605 new cases in 2023, of which 205 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.