A total of 726 homeless people died in England and Wales in 2018, which is 22 per cent more than a year ago and the highest ever recorded rise in the death toll, the UK Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.
"There were an estimated 726 deaths of homeless people in England and Wales registered in 2018, the highest year-to-year increase (22%) since our time series began," the office said in a statement.
About 88 per cent of the deaths were men, according to the Office for National Statistics.
"The mean age at death was 45 years for males and 43 years for females in 2018; in the general population of England and Wales, the mean age at death was 76 years for men and 81 years for women," the statement stressed.
Over 290 of the deaths, or 40 per cent of the whole number of cases, were linked to drug overdose. The number of such cases has risen by 55 per cent since 2017.
"London and the North West had the highest numbers of deaths in 2018, with 148 (20% of the total number) and 103 (14% of the total number) estimated deaths of homeless people respectively," the office added.
