Press Release 20/03/2014

MORTALITY STATISTICS OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (EDEF) 3rd QUARTER OF 2013

Deaths rose by 4.2% in the third quarter of 2013

21% of those who died were over 90 years of age

In the third quarter of 2013 the figure for deaths in the Basque Country stood at 4,500, which was an increase of 4.2% compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. As far as the sex of the people who died was concerned, 2,170 (48.2%) were women and 2,330 (51.8%) were men. By province, in Álava there were 589 deaths, in Bizkaia there were 2,520 and in Gipuzkoa 1,391 people died.

If we consider the age at the time of death, 22% of the people who died were under 70 years of age, 18% were between 70 and 79, 39% were between 80 and 89, and the remaining 21%, more than 900 people, were aged 90 or over.

A third of deaths were due to tumours

The main cause of death was due to tumours: 1,495 people died for this reason (33.2%). Following this, as the second cause of death, were diseases of the circulatory system, which accounted for 1,118 deaths (24.8%). The third main cause of death was respiratory disease, which caused 374 mortalities over the last few months (8.3%).

The cause of death continued to vary according to sex: amongst men, tumours caused more deaths than diseases of the circulatory system, whilst amongst women, the main cause of death was cardiovascular disease, followed by tumours in second place. Diseases of the respiratory system remained the third cause of death for both sexes.

Amongst the deaths that occurred in the third quarter of 2013, 15 corresponded to children under the age of one, 10 boys and 5 girls.

Population growth was positive in the Basque Country

Population growth in the Basque Country was positive in the third quarter of 2013, with birth exceeding deaths by 469 individuals. They rose in the three provinces: The population of Gipuzkoa increased by 221 inhabitants, Álava by 190 and Bizkaia by 58.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62 Further press releases on MORTALITY STATISTICS of the Basque Country Databank on the Mortality Statistics of the Basque Country