Death Counts

A popular Twitter post fails to give important context.

Dr Eoin Clarke posted a Statista chart of death registrations in the United Kingdom “without comment”. Over 500 Twitter accounts shared the post.

This article looks at why death counts are rising. Context is crucial for statistics in public debate.

Context and Justice

Dr Eoin Clarke — posting as ‘Tory Fibs’ on Twitter — wrote:

No words added to this graphic will do it justice so it is best to post it without comment.

The image is of a Statista graph, showing UK death registrations.

Dr Clarke does not link to the Statista post. Nor does he link the relevant Office for National Statistics report. Martin Armstrong’s Statista post only states the trend:

As this infographic shows, there isn’t just an increase on the previous year to be observed though. When looking back to 1974, the falling figures towards the start of the last decade are have been rising back up rather rapidly.

For each nation, total death registrations come from:

• England and Wales: Office for National Statistics;