Black people in England twice as likely to suffer stroke as white counterparts

In-depth study also reveals patients from black African and Caribbean backgrounds are less likely to receive timely care

People from black backgrounds in England are twice as likely to experience strokes as their white counterparts, while also being less likely to receive timely care, according to the largest study of its kind.

The study, conducted by researchers at King’s College London and presented at the European Stroke Organisation conference, analysed 30 years of stroke incidents from the South London Stroke Register, one of the longest-running population-based stroke registers in the world.

The register is unique due to the fact that unlike clinical trials, it recruits every single person who has had a stroke in a defined area.

Within a population of 333,000 people, according to the analysis, 7,726 strokes occurred. And while stroke incidence fell by 34% between 1995-99 and 2010-14, the rate rose again by 13% between 2020 and 2024.