4,569 people died in the fourth quarter of 2006 in the A.C. of the Basque Country, 1.9% more than in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to Eustat data. By province, there were 577 deaths in Álava, 2,568 in Bizkaia and 1,424 in Gipuzkoa.

The provisional total number of deaths for 2006 came to 17,897, of which 9,444 were men and 8,453 women. Compared to the provisional data for the previous year, 924 less deaths were registered, meaning a decrease of 4.9%.

30.5% of deaths (5,451) occurring in 2006 were as a result of tumours. Following this came circulatory system diseases, with 29.8% (5,340 deaths) and thirdly, and some way behind, were respiratory diseases, accounting for 9.4% (1,690).

The cause of death differed according to sex, given that among men tumours outnumbered circulatory system diseases by 10 percentage points, whereas among women the main causes were cardiovascular diseases and secondly, tumours, by the same difference.

Of the deaths that occurred in 2006, 49 corresponded to children under one year old, 17 boys and 32 girls. At the other extreme, 126 people died aged 100 or over, 25 men and 101 women.

The provisional data for 2006 shows that births outnumbered deaths by 1,966, meaning that natural population growth of the A.C. of the Basque Country was clearly positive. In Álava and Gipuzkoa, natural growth was 728 and 1,220 respectively. It should be stressed that although the number of births only outnumbered deaths by 19 in Bizkaia, there had not been a positive result here since 1989.

Table 1. Deaths in the A.C. of Euskadi by sex, according to cause of death. Quarterly comparison.

Source: EUSTAT