4,486 persons died in the A.C. of the Basque Country in the fourth quarter of 2005, 5.2% fewer than in the fourth quarter of 2004, according to data Eustat. By provinces, in Alava there were 549 deaths, 2,499 in Bizkaia and 1,438 in Gipuzkoa.

The provisional figure for total deaths in 2005 came to 18,821, 9,958 of which were males and 8,863 females. With regard to the previous year there were 720 more deaths, which represents a 4% increase.

30.1% of deaths occurring in 2005, 5,666, were due to circulatory system diseases, followed by tumours, with 28.4% (5,341 deaths) and, in third place, at some distance, respiratory diseases, which represented 11.4% (2,155).

The cause of death was different according to the sex, as among males tumours were more common than circulatory system diseases, while among females the main causes were cardiovascular diseases and secondly tumours.

Among the deaths that occurred in 2005, 49 corresponded to under one year-olds, 33 boys and 16 girls. In addition, there was a significant increase in the number of persons who died at the age of 100 or over, which rose from 56 in 1990 to 143 (26 males and 117 females) in 2005.

With the provisional data for 2005, births surpasses deaths in number by 763, giving a positive natural population growth rate in the A.C. of the Basque Country. By provinces, there were positive balances in both Álava and Gipuzkoa, with 370 and 786, respectively. In the case of Bizkaia, by contrast, the number of deaths was greater than the number of births (-393).