Press Release 11/11/2014
Deaths amongst individuals aged 100 or over increased to 268 in 2013, 227 women and 41 men
The number of deaths in the Basque Country was 19,692 in 2013, a decrease of 2.9% compared to 2012, according to Eustat data. By sex, there were 10,186 male deaths and 9,506 female deaths. Broken down by month, December registered the highest number of deaths (1,839), whilst September registered the lowest number (1,488).
In 2013, 268 people over the age of 100 died, of which 84.7% were women. The number of deaths amongst centenarians has gradually increased in recent years, until reaching its historic high in 2012 (289 people).
The average age of women who died was 82.4, whilst the average age of men was 75.5
The average age of people who died in 2013 was 78.8 years of age, a figure that stood at 76.2 in 2003, which is to say that the average age has risen by 2.6 years over the course of the last ten years.
By sex, the average age at death amongst men in 2013 was 75.5 years of age, whilst the average age amongst women stood at 82.4. In 2003, the average ages were 72.2 and 80.5, respectively. Thus, over the course of the last 10 years, the average lifespan of men has increased by 3.3 years, and that of women, by 1.9 years.
The rate of natural increase was negative, as there were 574 fewer births than deaths. By territory, negative balances were registered in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, where the population fell by 996 and 98, respectively. By contrast, in Álava, the number of deaths was lower than the number of births, thereby producing a positive balance (+520).
As regards child mortality, there were 42 deaths of children under one year of age in the Basque Country. Mortality amongst newborns, occurring within the first 28 days of life, produced 29 deaths: 9 of these deaths were during the first 24 hours and another 11 in the first week. Within deaths amongst children below the age of 1, girls accounted for 33.3% of the total.
58.7% of deaths were the result of tumours and diseases of the circulatory system
31.2% of the deaths that occurred in 2013 (6,143 deaths) were the result of tumours, followed by deaths resulting from diseases of the circulatory system, which accounted for 27.5% of the total (5,408 deaths) and, at a distant third, by deaths resulting from respiratory diseases, which accounted for 9.5% of the total (1,869 deaths). The prevalence of these three groups of illnesses that were responsible for the highest number of deaths has varied over the course of the last 10 years: whilst deaths resulting from tumours rose by 10.7%, those attributable to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases fell by 9.5% and 8.2%, respectively.
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.
Furthermore, the cause of death varied in accordance with age. Amongst those aged under one, the most frequent causes of death were illnesses originating in the perinatal period and congenital malformations; amongst those aged up to 40, the majority of deaths were attributable to external causes, including accidents and suicides; amongst those aged between 40 and 80, tumours were the highest cause of death, whilst amongst those aged 80 years or over, diseases of the circulatory system were the most frequent cause of death.
The number of deaths caused by heart attacks dropped by 37.1% in the last decade
Within the circulatory diseases group, attention should be drawn to the fact that the number of deaths resulting from heart attacks have gradually fallen. In 2003, 894 people died from this cause whereas in 2013 the number stood at 562, which was a decrease of 37.1%.
Alzheimer's disease caused 682 deaths in 2013
The groups of illnesses that cause death showing the highest increase over the course of the last decade were mental disorders and diseases affecting the nervous system. Over the course of the last ten years, deaths resulting from dementia increased by 40% (1,096 deaths in 2013) and, within degenerative diseases, deaths attributable to Alzheimer’s disease increased by 31.2%.
Amongst the deaths caused by Alzheimer's, 68.8% corresponded to women (469 deaths in 2013) and the remaining 31.2% to men (213 deaths in 2013).
Deaths due to traffic accidents continued to fall leaving suicides as the main external cause of death
The fall in the deaths attributable to traffic accidents in the 2003-2013 decade proved so extensive (70.8%) that in 2013, suicide was the main external cause of death. In fact, deaths caused by traffic accidents stood at 76 compared to 178 due to suicide. Specifically, the number of suicides increased by 10.6% compared to 161 in 2003.
Within external causes of death, there was a higher incidence of male deaths in comparison to female deaths; thus, deaths by suicide affected 128 men compared to 50 women, and as regards deaths by traffic accidents, 61 corresponded to men, compared to 15 women.
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