Hoping To Dodge Death? Move To Tower Hamlets

By Zoe Craig Last edited 105 months ago
Hoping To Dodge Death? Move To Tower Hamlets

Mural in Mile End Road looking down Whitechapel by Tony Avon in the Londonist flickrpool

If, like the Bee Gees, you enjoy 'Stayin' Alive'*, you'll be happy to know that figures from the Office of National Statistics show London is the best place to be.

Fewer Londoners are dying as a proportion of its total population, meaning London has the lowest death rate in the whole of England. In fact, it's almost half that of the north of the country.

The lowest proportion of deaths compared to population was in Tower Hamlets, where just 0.17% of the population died in the first five months of 2015. And overall, the ONS shows 22,536 people died in London between January and May — just 0.26% of the city's estimated population.

London's death rate has been forced down by the influx of young professionals. Coastal regions popular with retirees, by contrast, have soaring death rates: East Sussex has a mortality rate of 0.73%.

But there's a downside to all this living. The Telegraph points out that the ONS figures correspond almost exactly with those from another survey on house prices: Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Hackney appear in the top 10 on both lists. The lower the local death rate, the higher the house prices, it seems. There's always a catch.

*Yes, we know two thirds of them are no longer with us.

Last Updated 25 June 2015