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People registered as deaf or hard of hearing: year ending 31 March 2004, England

  • Last modified date:
    8 February 2007

This publication contains detailed statistics on persons registered with Councils with Social Services Responsibilities in England as being deaf or hard of hearing. The data are compiled from the triennial return SSDA 910 submitted by Councils to the Department of Health.

Key points:

Register of deaf people

  • At 31 March 2004, 55 thousand people were on the register of deaf people.
  • Between March 2001 and March 2004 the number on the register of deaf people increased by 4,700 (9%), since 1989 there has been an overall increase of 17,100 or 45%.
  • Since March 2001 the number of deaf people on the register has risen in all age groups. The largest growth was in the number of people on the register aged 65-74, which increased by 29% to 8,300 at March 2004.
  • At 31 March 2004 the percentage of people aged 75 and over was 24% compared with 20% at 31 March 1989. This partly reflects increases in the population in this age group.

Register of hard of hearing people

  • At 31 March 2004, 159 thousand people were on the register of hard of hearing. This is an increase of around 14,400 (10%) since March 2001 and more than double the figure at March 1989. The large rise from 1989 may be partly due to old registrations not being removed from the register, either through the death of the client or transfer to the register of deaf people.
  • At 31 March 1989, 58% of people on the hard of hearing register were aged 75 or over. This percentage has increased to 64% in March 2003. The overall increase may be partly reflecting the increase in the population of this age group, and possibly due to client records incorrectly kept on the registers following a client's death or their transfer to the register of deaf people.

Information on deafblind people

  • At the 31 March 2003, 25% of all registered blind people who had an additional disability were also recorded as deaf or having a hearing impairment. About a quarter of these people were blind and deaf, whilst three quarters were blind with a hearing impairment. More details are available in the page on registered blind and partially-sighted people (link below).

Editor: Kate Anderson
Associate editor: Anne-Marie Brown

Further information

Further enquiries regarding the statistics contained in this publication should be addressed to:-
Kate Anderson/Anne-Marie Brown
SD3B Department of Health
Room 456C Skipton House
80 London Road
Elephant and Castle
London SE1 6LW
Tel: 020 7972 5582/5588

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