Standing view · health · Burnley
deteriorating, held with strong confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2025.
Deaths before age 75 in Burnley numbered 494.45 per 100,000 in 2023, an unfavourable movement. The suicide rate was 17.35 per 100,000 over the pooled period 2021 to 2023 and 17.77 per 100,000 over 2022 to 2024, unfavourable in both. Adults who smoke accounted for 9.02% in 2024, a favourable movement, and hospital admissions for COPD among those aged 35 and over were 406.82 per 100,000 in 2023/24. Three of the four measures with a direction moved unfavourably.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Burnley. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths before age 75, per 100,000 | 2023 | deteriorating |
| Suicide rate, per 100,000 | 2021 - 23 | deteriorating |
| Adults who smoke | 2024 | improving |
| Suicide rate, per 100,000 | 2022 - 24 | deteriorating |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital admissions for COPD, aged 35 and over, per 100,000 | 2023/24 | — |