The number of deaths increased by nearly 6% in England and Wales last year, new figures have shown.

The report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), found that there were 529,655 deaths registered in England and Wales in 2015, which signals an increase of 5.6% compared to 2014. This marks the largest increase since 1967 and 1968, when death rates rose by 6.8%.

Cancer was the most common cause of death in 2015 (28% of all deaths registered) followed by circulatory diseases, such as heart disease and strokes (26%).

Furthermore, the ONS report also found that there has been an increase in death rates for respiratory diseases such as flu in both men and women.

The number of deaths is affected by the size and age structure of the population and these figures have increased in five of the last six years.

Over time, these figures could continue to increase according to the ONS, as people are living longer, meaning that our population is increasing in size and age.

The report by the ONS also showcased that there has been an increase in age-standardised mortality rates by 5.1% for females and 3.1% for males.

The north-east had the highest age-standardised mortality rate in 2015, with 1,128.7 deaths per 100,000 population. However, mortality rates were the lowest in the south-east, with 912.7 deaths per 100,000 population.

Research by the ONS also found that the infant mortality rate remained at 3.9 deaths per 1,000 births in 2015.

Liz McLaren, Head of Vital Statistics Outputs at ONS, said: “The first 3 months of the year contributed most to the increased number of deaths registered in England and Wales in 2015. Over 24,000 more deaths were registered between January and March 2015 compared with the same period in 2014. This period saw a peak in flu cases which resulted in a notable increase in mortality rates for respiratory diseases for both sexes.”