Premature mortality, defined as death from all causes in people aged under 75, is an important indicator of the overall health of the population. Premature death is a robust measure of early death for comparison over time and between different places. The premature death rate is age-standardised so we can compare the Jersey rate to rates in England and is calculated over a three-year period to take into account the small size of Jersey's population. 

Premature mortality has been reducing year-on-year and fell by over 12% between 2009-11 and 2014-16. A third of the 777 deaths in Jersey between 2014 and 2016 were premature - giving a premature death rate of 303.7 per 100,000 population for the three-year period. This compared favourably to the overall English rate of 334 and would place Jersey 44th compared to the 151 English regions in 2014-16 (which ranged between 228 and 546).  Premature deaths from cancer accounted for almost half (48 per cent) of the total deaths each year in the Island. The main cancer causing death in this age group was cancer of respiratory organs (predominately lung cancer) and over the period 2014-16, 22% of premature cancer deaths were due to lung cancer.