New data has revealed something the UK has never seen before: clear evidence that sexual minority people die earlier and at higher rates than their straight or heterosexual peers.
For the primary time, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published the general rate of death by sexual orientation in England and Wales. The findings come from a brand new bulletin that mixes voluntary sexual orientation data collected within the 2021 census with death registrations between March 2021 and November 2024. This correlation was possible for individuals with valid NHS ID numbers, allowing researchers to look at death patterns in a population of around 29 million adults.
Evidence on this People of sexual minority Experience high overall mortality have been combinedtogether with many others Previous studies Limited by small sample sizes, give attention to specific causes of death quite than indirect measures of sexual orientation or specific causes of death. The latest ONS evaluation is the primary UK study to link self-reported sexual orientation with national death registrations from the census, allowing population-level mortality rates to be assessed across thousands and thousands of individuals.
Headline result It’s hard to disregard. People who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or one other minority sexual orientation were 30 percent more more likely to die through the study period than those that identified as straight or heterosexual for any purpose. In age-standardized terms, this equates to 982.8 deaths per 100,000 people within the LGB+ group, compared with 752.6 per 100,000 amongst straight or queer people.
Sexual orientation was included within the census for the primary time in 2021. 92.5% of individuals aged 16 and over Answered the questionrepresenting about 44.9 million people.
Most respondents (89.4%) identified as straight or heterosexual, while 3.2% identified with an LGB+ orientation. Another 7.5% selected not to reply. After linking census responses to death records, the ultimate ONS evaluation covers slightly below 28.7 million people.
Although that is the primary UK release to look at deaths by sexual orientation, it builds Previous results. In April 2025, the agency reported that individuals who discover as LGB+ have between two and a half times the chance of suicide and deliberate self-harm in comparison with straight or queer people.
New data shows that top mortality amongst sexual minority people goes beyond mental health.
Heart disease, for instance, was the leading explanation for death in each groups, and particularly amongst men (deliberate self-harm was the leading explanation for death amongst LGB+ women, and heart disease was the second leading cause). It accounted for 11.9% of deaths amongst LGB+ people and 10.7% amongst straight or queer people.
This wouldn’t be surprising unless age is taken into consideration. On average, people within the LGB+ group were younger, with a mean age of 35.6 years, in comparison with 48.6 years within the straight or heterosexual group.
Because of the chance of ischemic heart disease Rises rapidly with agethe high proportion of deaths from this cause within the younger population is especially troubling.
The ONS doesn’t attempt to elucidate why these differences exist, and data alone cannot establish causality. But the extensive evidence base offers necessary clues. Smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and physical inactivity All well-established risk factors Cardiovascular disease, and for some Known to be More common in sexual minority populations.
First ONS analysis Gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons are more more likely to smoke than heterosexual people, especially women, even after accounting for aspects equivalent to age, race, and socioeconomic status.
Others suggest higher rates of research obesity Sexual minority in women, although not consistently in men. For proof Differences in circumstances Like High blood pressure And Diabetes is more mixed.
Beyond individual behavior, a long time of Research Point out the health effects of minority stress on heart problems. Exposure to discrimination, stigma, and violence is related to high levels of smoking and alcohol use, sleep disturbances, obesity, and hypertension, all of which accumulate over time to extend the chance of significant illness and early death.
The most annoying findings in the brand new ONS concern young people. Among those aged 16 to 24, who identified as LGB+, accounted for 45.3% of all suicide deaths. Among straight or heterosexual people of the identical age, the figure was 26.6%.
suicide is preventable, But it rarely has a single cause. What these findings clarify is that living in today’s society still places a heavy burden on sexual minority people, especially young people. This burden is reflected not only in mental health statistics, but in addition in patterns of physical illness and early death.
If sexual minority youth were in a position to grow up in safer, more inclusive environments, these stark inequalities may not exist. Emerging evidence suggests that they are usually not inevitable. They are shaped by social conditions and may, at the least partially, be modified.