The annual mortality statistics published by the Office for National Statistics provide vital clues for health experts looking at causes of death - and those who specialise in the prevention of accidents.

It gives us a real picture of risk. We may worry about swine flu, for instance - but the big killers of heart disease and cancer are much more significant in terms of public health. What is also striking is how constant many of these numbers of deaths are - why do around 12,000 people die each year in accidents, for instance? Why do around 200 people accidentally drown every year?

Besides the graphic above (which you can download as a PDF), we've summarised two of the datasets below: major causes of death and deaths from external causes - ie, accidents or assaults. If you want to find out how many people died after being stung by bees or falling down stairs, this is the place to look.

Guardian and Observer health correspondent Denis Campbell's take on it is:

As a society we are understandably concerned with death and our or our loved ones' risk of dying, and parts of the media routinely warn us about the latest apparent health hazard, involving drugs, machinery, the elements or a new infection. This mortality data is fascinating. They include causes for concern, but also reasons for relief. For example, about 12,000 of us die every year in an accident, and that figure remains stubbornly high. Those data include good news, though: deaths in transport accidents have fallen from 2,968 in 2007 to 2,284 in 2009 - a drop of almost 25%. And while more people are cycling, the number of cyclists killed in a transport accident are falling, as are those after a collision with a car or van. But this accident deaths category contains bad news, too. Fatalities from falls have risen from 3,318 in 2007 to 3,593 in 2009, probably due to our ageing population and the recent colder winters; ice and snow can be very bad news, especially for older people. Deaths from exposure to smoke, fire and flames have also risen, as have those from accidental poisoning, inadvertent alcohol poisoning and those from intentional self-harm - all of which should make some of us rethink some of our habits. Infection is one of the great health challenges of our time. New infections emerge fairly regularly and can cause particular problems once they get into hospitals which are harder for medical staff to combat than MRSA and C-difficile, which are more common. But it's clearly good news that overall deaths from infectious and parasitic disease have fallen significantly recently, from 8,169 in 2007 to 5,570 in 2009. For example, the drop in C-difficile deaths (4,012 to 1,698) reflects the NHS's determined efforts to tackle hospital-acquired infections. And while it's reassuring that no one died that year of malaria, and only one each of measles and mumps this data illustrates that chickenpox and shingles, which claimed 19 and 43 lives respectively, for example, are more lethal

The data itself comes from death certificates and records the main cause of death - which is why the influenza numbers are lower than other estimates, for instance. If you get flu, which then lowers your resistance enough for pneumonia to kill you, for instance, pneumonia would be the main cause of death recorded.

The NHS has visualised previous years' data already with its atlas of risk. And this data, although published last October, gathered virtually no coverage.

• This article was amended on 12 January 2012 to correct "bitten by bees" to "stung by bees".



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Data summary

Major causes of death, 2009 Click heading to sort table. Download this data Cause of death MALE FEMALE 2009 TOTAL Rate per 100,000 pop, 2009 2008 TOTAL Rate per 100,000 pop, 2008 All causes, all ages 238,062 253,286 491,348 896 509,090 935 All causes, ages under 28 days 1,250 1,001 2,251 2,299 All causes, ages 28 days and over 236,812 252,285 489,097 506,791 Circulatory diseases 77,636 82,143 159,779 292 168,238 309 Cancers and neoplasms 74,016 66,481 140,497 256 141,143 259 Respiratory diseases 31,786 35,773 67,559 123 71,751 132 Digestive diseases 11,974 13,256 25,230 46 25,997 48 Mental and behavioural disorders 5,909 12,112 18,021 33 18,438 34 Death not caused by disease 11,190 6,688 17,878 33 18,048 33 Diseases of the nervous system 8,003 9,405 17,408 32 17,521 32 Genitourinary diseases 4,873 7,125 11,998 22 11,886 22 Other causes 2,468 6,775 9,243 17 11,149 20 Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases 3,200 3,923 7,123 13 7,426 14 Infectious and parasitic diseases 2,567 3,183 5,750 10 5,760 12 Musculoskeletal system 1,314 2,827 4,141 8 4,398 8 Skin diseases 609 1,240 1,849 3 1,895 3 Congenital diseases and chromasomal abnormalities 658 603 1,261 2 1,139 2 Blood diseases and immune systems 457 569 1,026 2 952 2 Babies dying before, during or after birth 138 99 237 0 234 0 Pregnancy and childbirth 0 63 63 0 44 0 Diseases of the ear and mastoid process 13 16 29 0 24 0 Diseases of the eye and adnexa 1 4 5 0 9 0

Accidents and external causes Click heading to sort table. Download this data No. Cause Type 2007 total 2008 total 2009 Male 2009 Female 2009 total 1 External causes of morbidity TOTAL 17,420 18,048 11,190 6,688 17,878 2 Death from injury or poisoning, not known if deliberate or not TOTAL 420 420 285 101 386 3 Accidents total Acc. 11,809 12,231 6,811 5,106 11,917 4 Transport accidents total Acc., transport 2,968 2,676 1,749 535 2,284 5 Pedestrian injured in transport accident Acc., transport, pedest. 645 604 317 152 469 6 Pedestrian in collision with cycle Acc., transport, pedest. 6 3 0 0 0 7 Pedestrian in collision with motorbike Acc., transport, pedest. 23 22 6 4 10 8 Pedestrian in collision with car or van Acc., transport, pedest. 275 260 107 46 153 9 Pedestrian in collision with lorry or bus Acc., transport, pedest. 89 85 54 25 79 10 Pedestrian injured hit by train Acc., transport, pedest. 45 48 28 7 35 11 Cyclist in transport accident Acc., transport, cycle 136 118 98 15 113 12 Cyclist injured in collision with car or van Acc., transport, cycle 41 36 24 3 27 13 Motorcyclist in transport accident Acc., transport, m' cycle 517 477 417 14 431 14 Motorcyclist in collision with car or van Acc., transport, m' cycle 176 163 117 1 118 15 Car occupant injured in transport accident Acc., transport, car 1,305 1,111 648 274 922 16 Car occupant injured in collision with car or van Acc., transport, car 206 173 76 40 116 17 Car occupant in collision with stationary object Acc., transport, car 334 297 175 48 223 18 Water transport accidents Acc., transport 26 29 21 2 23 19 Air and space transport accidents Acc., transport 23 21 36 4 40 20 Falls total Acc., Fall 3,318 3,459 1,823 1,770 3,593 21 Fall on and from stairs and steps Acc., Fall 620 642 377 267 644 22 Fall on and from ladder Acc., Fall 57 60 53 2 55 23 Fall from, out of or through building/structure Acc., Fall 104 112 74 19 93 24 Fall from cliff Acc., Fall 17 5 15 3 18 25 Inanimate objects Inan. Obj 111 125 108 30 138 26 Struck by thrown, projected or falling object Inan. Obj 50 38 33 6 39 27 Animate objects total Animals, people 18 24 17 7 24 28 Hit, struck, kicked, twisted, bitten or scratched by another Animals, people 4 5 2 0 2 29 Bitten by rat Animals 1 0 0 0 30 Bitten by dog Animals 0 4 5 0 5 31 Bitten or struck by other mammals Animals 10 8 3 6 9 32 Accidental drowning total Acc. Drown 193 195 162 43 205 33 In bath tub Acc. Drown 18 22 15 18 33 34 Drowning in swimming pool, or falling in Acc. Drown 9 1 5 4 9 35 Drowning in natural water Acc. Drown 61 50 42 0 42 36 Other accidental threats to breathing Acc. Suff 502 638 426 228 654 37 Accidental suffocation in bed Acc. Suff 8 11 4 7 11 38 Accidental hanging/strangulation Acc. Suff 118 253 208 46 254 39 Inhalation of stomach contents Choking 119 108 47 51 98 40 Inhalation and ingestion of food Choking 180 176 99 83 182 41 Exposure to electric current, radiation and extreme ambient air temperature and pressure total Atmos 30 21 30 3 33 42 Exposure to smoke, fire and flames Atmos 227 282 161 118 279 43 Contact with heat and hot substances Atmos 29 24 18 16 34 44 Contact with hornets, wasps and bees Atmos, insects 4 2 2 2 4 45 Exposure to forces of nature Atmos, nature 109 119 52 73 125 46 Exposure to excessive natural cold Atmos, nature, cold 99 108 48 69 117 47 Victim of lightning Atmos 2 0 1 0 1 48 Accidental poisoning total Acc. Poison 1,207 1,429 1,159 378 1,537 49 Exposure to narcotics and hallucinogens Acc. Poison 483 580 547 101 648 50 Accidental alcohol poisoning Acc. Poison 167 170 124 55 179 51 Lack of food Starv- ation 4 5 1 5 6 52 Intentional self-harm Suicide, harm 3,165 3,438 2,701 756 3,457 53 Hanging/strangulation Suicide, harm 1,812 2,045 1,726 353 2,079 54 Assault TOTAL 369 338 216 102 318 55 Complications of medical and surgical care TOTAL 414 366 236 226 462

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