This document is part of the UK Renal Registry's Disparities Report, which looks at age, sex, ethnicity, and deprivation levels among people with kidney failure. The analyses presented here are for ethnicity. The reports looking at age, sex, and deprivation will soon follow.

The decision to share these routinely collected data reflects increasing awareness that kidney health is strongly influenced by people's backgrounds. A document published in 2018 highlighted how kidney disease is more likely, progresses faster, and is associated with earlier death amongst people from more deprived backgrounds. It also progresses faster in people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic populations, who are also less likely to receive a transplant.

Women are more likely to get kidney disease, but men are more likely to start dialysis. Older people are less likely to receive a transplant. Organisations like the UK Renal Registry were advised to make reporting and analysis of inequalities in kidney care part of their role.

Reporting these disparities is the purpose of this document. We use the term 'disparities' as opposed to 'inequalities' for this report because it only looks at differences in the care and outcomes of patient groups. We are not able to provide insight on whether care and outcomes would be equal or fair, if all differences between the groups were considered.