Cold-related deaths

Cold-related deaths in Minnesota:

Cold-related deaths are the most severe health outcome from cold exposure. Cold-related deaths are sometimes not identified as being related to cold, which means the data may underestimate cold-related deaths.

   

Cold-related deaths in Minnesota

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Year
Number of deaths
Age-adjusted rate per 100,000
 
YearNumber of DeathsAge-Adjusted Rate per 100,000
2002
12
0.2
2003
17
0.3
2004
19
0.4
2005
13
0.3
2006
12
0.2
2007
13
0.2
2008
39
0.7
2009
37
0.7
2010
39
0.7
2011
28
0.5
2012
33
0.6
2013
44
0.8
2014
46
0.8
2015
26
0.4
2016
44
0.7
2017
52
0.8
2018
52
0.8
2019
62
0.9
Source: Minnesota Center for Health Statistics

Cold-related illness directly accounted for 588 deaths in Minnesota from 2002-2019. While the number and rate of cold-related deaths vary from year to year, the overall trend shows an increase in cold-related deaths from 2002 to 2019. In 2019, there were 62 deaths (almost 1 death per 100,000 Minnesotans).

Cold-related deaths, by sex

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Year
Females
Males
 
YearFemalesMales
2002
0.2
0.2
2003
0.3
0.4
2004
0.2
0.5
2005
0.1
0.4
2006
0.2
0.2
2007
0.1
0.4
2008
0.4
1.0
2009
0.4
1.0
2010
0.2
1.2
2011
0.3
0.7
2012
0.3
0.8
2013
0.4
1.1
2014
0.7
0.9
2015
0.2
0.7
2016
0.4
1.1
2017
0.3
1.3
2018
0.6
1.0
2019
0.5
1.4
Source: Minnesota Center for Health Statistics

In 2019, males died at 2.8 times the rate of females.

Cold-related deaths, by age and sex

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Age categories
Female
Male
 
Age categoriesFemaleMale
0-14
0.0
0.0
15-34
0.2
0.6
35-64
0.4
1.3
65+
1.8
3.8
Source: Minnesota Center for Health Statistics

In general, males over 35 years are more likely to die from cold exposure than females. This chart shows that those age 65 and older have the highest rate of cold-related deaths, which reinforces current scientific knowledge that those who are age 65 years and older are most vulnerable to the cold.

Related topics

 

Climate-related environmental health concerns 

Heat-related illness 

Carbon monoxide poisoning

 

Updated February 2021. Topic is updated when data become available.