Press Release 05/12/2014

MORTALITY STATISTICS OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (EDEF) II/2014

In the second quarter of 2014, 4,700 people died, of which 60 were over 100 years old

In Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa the number of deaths rose, while in Álava it decreased

In the second quarter of 2014 the figure for deaths in the Basque Country stood at 4,700, which was a rise of 2.6% compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. By province, both in Bizkaia, with 2,613 deaths, and Gipuzkoa, with 1,526, there were significant increases (3.9% and 2.7% respectively), whilst in Álava, where 561 people died, there was a drop of 3.4%.

By sex, 50.2% of those who died were men and 49.8% were women. In all, more than half of the deaths (62.5%) corresponded to people over 80 years old, but the percentage rose to 75% with regards to women, and dropped to 50.1% for men.

Amongst the deaths that occurred in the second quarter of 2014, 4 corresponded to children under the age of one, 2 boys and 2 girls. Among the 60 people who died at the age of 100 or more, 55 were women and only 5 were men.

The main cause of death was due to tumours: 1,568 people died for this reason (33.4%). Following this, as the second cause of death, were diseases of the circulatory system, which accounted for 1,240 deaths (26.4%). The third main cause of death was respiratory disease, which caused 422 mortalities over the last few months (9%).

As in previous quarters, the cause of deaths differed 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. Diseases of the respiratory system remained the third cause of death for both sexes.

Population growth was positive in the spring of 2014, with the population of the Basque Country increasing by 185. The balance in two of the three provinces was positive: 262 more inhabitants in Álava, and 9 more in Gipuzkoa. In Bizkaia, by contrast, the balance was negative (-86).

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