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National Records of Scotland (NRS) Deaths Data

Summary

This dataset is available through the Research Data Access Pathway

Abstract

All registrations to the National Records of Scotland of deaths. Please note that cause of death information for the previous year is provisional and is only finalised in August of the subsequent year.

Keywords

Deaths Population Registration Post mortem Scotland HDRUK

Publisher

  • Identifier
  • Name
    Public Health Scotland
  • Logo
  • Description
    Public Health Scotland is an NHS Board that is uniquely sponsored by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) on behalf of local government.
  • Contact point

Documentation

Description

All registrations to the National Records of Scotland of deaths
  • Associated media

    • Available resource files can be downloaded below.

      File name

      Templatemetadataxmlfile HDR Lookups

      Type

      .XML

      File name

      Nrsdeaths Combined SMD Import

      Type

      .XLSX

  • Is part of
    • Not available

Coverage

Spatial

  • Spatial coverage

    United Kingdom, Scotland

  • Geographic levels
    Not available

Temporal

  • Start date
    01/01/1981
  • End date
    31/12/2025
  • Frequency
    Monthly
  • Distribution release date
    31/12/2025

Provenance

  • Purpose
    Other
  • Source
    Other
  • Collection situation
    Other

Access and governance

  • Conditions of access
    General research use, Project-specific restrictions, Research-specific restrictions

Requesting access to this data

This is a secure dataset that can only be accessed by researchers from approved organisations.

Begin an enquiry

Usage

  • Conditions of use
    Disclosure control, Institution-specific restrictions, Not for profit use
  • Resource creator
    National Records of Scotland
  • Is referenced by
    Not available

Access

Format and standards

  • Language
    English
  • Format
    Text, csv

Enrichment and linkage

  • Related datasets
    • Not available
  • Linkage opportunity
    Not available
  • Tools
    • Not available

Synthetic data

Synthetic data is not yet available for this dataset. 

Data dictionary

Registrations to the National Records of Scotland of deaths, available through the Public Benefit and Privacy Panel pathway. Information on some codes can be found in an archived file at the following link, more recent lists have not been provided https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/public/20210602102315/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/general-background-information/code-lists-used-in-vital-events-statistics

MONTH AND YEAR OF BIRTH

Month and year of birth

DATE_OF_DEATH

Date of death

AGE

Age at death in years

SEX

Individual's sex

INSTITUTION

Institution

UNDERLYING_CAUSE_OF_DEATH

The disease or injury that initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or t...

CAUSE_OF_DEATH_CODE_0

A disease, morbid condition or injury that either resulted in or contributed to death (u...

CAUSE_OF_DEATH_CODE_1

CAUSE_OF_DEATH_CODE_1

CAUSE_OF_DEATH_CODE_2

CAUSE_OF_DEATH_CODE_2

CAUSE_OF_DEATH_CODE_3

CAUSE_OF_DEATH_CODE_3

Variable description

Data type
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