Estimates of Ethnic Mortality in the UK

This paper develops the first estimates of the mortality risks experienced by the UK's ethnic populations at local scale. Two estimations were developed. In the first, 2001 Census data on limiting long-term illness is used as a predictor of mortality levels. The second estimation used the geographical distribution of ethnic group populations across local areas with local mortality to reconstruct national mortality rates by ethnicity, which were then used to estimate local ethnic mortality. A comparison of the two approaches indicated the method based on illness rates produced more variation and hence was preferred to the flatter estimates of the geographically weighted method. The local SMRs produced for each ethnic group were linked to full life tables to produce a comprehensive set of ethnic group life tables for 432 local authority areas in 2001.