In 2004 there were 1,969 deaths in which mesothelioma was mentioned on the death certificate. Of these 1,674 (85%) occurred in men. The figures above show the time trend in mortality (rates per million) since 1969 in men and women over 45 years (note the tenfold difference in scale). Rates in the under 65s seem to have peaked and are now falling or stabilising in both men and women. Rates in the older age groups however are much higher and rising quickly with an annual average rate of 254 per million in men aged 65-74 years and 363 per million in the over 75s. In those under 45 years, rates peaked in the early 1980s and were less than 1 per million in 2004.