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Press Release 25/09/2015

DEATH STATISTICS. I/2015

Deaths rose by 16% in the first quarter of 2015

The increase reached 22.3% in Álava, 15.8% in Gipuzkoa and by 14.8% in Bizkaia

In the first quarter of 2015 the number of deaths in the Basque Country stood at 6,345, 16% up on the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data. By province, in Álava there were 790 deaths, in Bizkaia there were 3,506 and in Gipuzkoa 2,049 people died. By sex, 3,100 men and 2,502 women died, which translate as increases of 11.9% and 20.2%, respectively.

The main causes of death were tumours and circulatory system diseases, which caused the deaths of 1,657 and 1,687 individuals, respectively, which mean that together they accounted for 52.7% of deaths. As a third cause of death were respiratory diseases, which resulted in 855 deaths (13.5%).

Deaths by diseases of the respiratory system increased by 40.4%

The winter months are traditionally characterised for being those that account for the greatest number of deaths, with respiratory diseases normally registering the greatest increases compared to the other quarters. During the first quarter of 2015, 855 individuals died from these illnesses, 40.4% up on the same quarter of the previous year (609 deaths), and almost double that of the fourth quarter of 2014 (439 deaths).

Diseases affecting the nervous system, including Alheimer's and Parkinson's, cause 465 deaths in the months of January, February and March, 41% more than in the same quarter of the previous year.

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 order was inversed: 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. 58% more women than men of the same group died as a result of diseases affecting the nervous system.

Amongst the deaths that occurred in this first quarter, 14 corresponded to children under 1 year of age – 9 girls and 5 boys.

Population growth in the Basque Country in the first quarter of 2015 was negative, with a population decrease of 1,755. The population decreased in the three territories: by 1,259 people in Bizkaia, 467 in Gipuzkoa and 29 in Álava.

Table 1: Deaths in the Basque Country by sex, according to the cause of death. Quarterly comparison
Source: Eustat. Death statistics