ONS estimates 63 Welsh deaths among people experiencing homelessness
Archive article. Published on Thu 1 Oct, 20:08. Conditions may have changed since this reporting.
An estimated 63 deaths among people experiencing homelessness were registered in Wales in 2025, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics on 1 October. The release covers ages 15 to 74. Registration can follow a death by months, particularly after a coroner’s investigation, so the figure is not a count of deaths occurring during 2025.
What the estimate means
Across England and Wales, ONS identified 834 registrations and estimated a total of 974 deaths after allowing for cases its searches may have missed. The Welsh figure is allocated from that combined estimate using Wales’ share of identified cases. These are statistics still in development. ONS describes the model as conservative: the true total may be higher. The figures do not mean that 63 people died while sleeping on the street.
Who the figures cover
ONS’ methodology explains that its definition comes from evidence in death-registration records. It mainly identifies people sleeping rough or using emergency accommodation around the time of death. That differs from the definitions used for other housing statistics. The method cross-checks different indications of homelessness and estimates missing cases. It can inform local outreach and rough-sleeping services, but a record that contains no recognisable evidence of homelessness is harder to identify.
Reading the numbers carefully
The England-and-Wales estimate was broadly unchanged from 2024. That comparison does not establish a Welsh trend or explain why individual people died.