Coroners Statistics 2024: Key Trends
On the 8th May 2025 the Ministry of Justice published the Coroners Statistics 2024, providing an overview of deaths reported to coroners in England and Wales during the past year.
The headline findings show that:
- 191,636 deaths were reported to coroners in 2023, a 7% decrease from the previous year and the lowest figure since 1995.
- Post-mortem examinations were ordered in 38% of cases, slightly down from 2022, continuing a gradual long-term decline.
- Inquests were opened in 30,184 cases, accounting for 16% of all reported deaths, maintaining a consistent trend.
- Jury inquests remained rare, comprising just 1% of all inquests.
- The median time to complete an inquest was 30 weeks, reflecting a continued improvement in timeliness since 2020.
The report also identifies several key trends:
- “Natural causes” remained the most common inquest conclusion, followed by “accident/misadventure.” Conclusions of “suicide” and “open” have remained relatively stable.
- There is notable regional variation in the use of post-mortems and inquest opening rates, highlighting differences in local practices and population profiles.
- The overall reduction in reported deaths may reflect both changes in registration practices and longer-term demographic trends following the COVID-19 pandemic period. COVID-19 deaths are likely to be considered to be deaths from natural illness and as such not reportable to coroners.
These figures suggest that coroners are managing workloads more efficiently, while ensuring that inquests remain a key part of the investigatory process into unexplained or unnatural deaths.
You can read the full report and analysis on the GOV.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2024/guide-to-coroners-statistics
Julia is a member of the Inquests and Inquiries Team and Head of the Family Team at Parklane Plowden Chambers. Her full profile can be accessed here.
