A shocking 726 homeless people died in England and Wales registered last year - an increase of 22% since last year due to a rise in deaths from drug poisoning.
This is the highest increase since 2013.
Most of the deaths in 2018 were among men (641 estimated deaths; 88% of the total).
The average age at death was 45 years for males and 43 years for females in 2018 compared to 76 for men and 81 for women among the general population.
Two in five deaths of homeless people were related to drug poisoning in 2018 (294 estimated deaths), and the number of deaths from this cause has increased by 55% since 2017.
The estimated number of deaths among homeless people has increased by 51% over the last six years.
Ben Humberstone, Head of Health Analysis and Life Events, Office for National Statistics said: “The deaths of 726 homeless people in England and Wales recorded in 2018 represent an increase of over a fifth on the previous year. That’s the largest rise since these figures began in 2013.
“A key driver of the change is the number of deaths related to drug poisoning which are up by 55% since 2017 compared to 16% for the population as a whole.
“The ONS estimates are designed to help inform the work of everyone seeking to protect this highly vulnerable section of our community.”
Responding to new ONS figures revealing that a record 726 people died homeless last year, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, John Healey MP said: “These figures are shameful in a country as rich as ours.
“High and rising homelessness is not inevitable. The number of people sleeping on our streets fell under Labour but has risen since 2010 as a direct result of the Conservatives slashing investment for low-cost homes, cutting back housing benefit, reducing funding for homelessness services, and denying protection to private renters.
“The next Labour Government will end rough sleeping within a Parliament and tackle the root causes of rising homelessness with more affordable homes and stronger rights for renters.”
Jon Sparkes, Crisis Chief Executive, said: “It is heart-breaking that hundreds of people were forced to spend the last days of their lives without the dignity of a secure home.
"This is now the second year running where we have known the true scale of the human cost of homelessness, yet still the lessons from these tragic deaths go unlearnt.
“Behind these statistics are human beings, who like all of us had talents and ambitions.
"They shouldn’t be dying unnoticed and unaccounted for.
"It’s crucial that Governments urgently expand the safeguarding system used to investigate the deaths of vulnerable adults to include everyone who has died while street homeless, so we can help prevent more people from dying needlessly.
"Because in this day and age there is no excuse for anyone dying without a safe place to call home.”
The ONS statistics mainly include people sleeping rough or using emergency accommodation such as homeless shelters and direct access hostels, at or around the time of death.
