Press Release 02/06/2016
Deaths increased by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015 in the Basque Country
In 2015 276 centenarians died, 227 women and 49 men
In the fourth quarter of 2015 the number of deaths in the Basque Country stood at 5,038, 0.4% up on the same period of 2014, according to Eustat data. By province, in Álava there were 658 deaths, in Bizkaia there were 2,745 and in Gipuzkoa 1,635 people died.
The provisional data totals for 2015 recorded 20,882 deaths, of which 10,474 were women and 10,408 were men. The annual variation with respect to 2014 was 6.7% more deaths.
Amongst the deaths that occurred last year, 51 corresponded to children under one year of age, 26 girls and 25 boys. As regards the 276 individuals who died aged 100 or above, 227 were women and 49 were men. The increase in longevity is clear, especially in the case of women. In 2015 there were 31 more deaths amongst centenarians than the previous year, of which 18 corresponded to men and 13 to women.
Tumours were the main cause of death in 2015
30% of the deaths that occurred in 2015, or 6,256 cases, were due to tumours. Following these were deaths caused by diseases of the circulatory system, 26.6% (5,549 deaths) and, in third place, some way behind, were deaths associated with diseases of the respiratory system, which accounted for 9.8% (2,056).
The cause of death varied according to sex: amongst men, tumours caused almost 12 percentage points more deaths than diseases of the circulatory system in 2015. The main cause of death amongst women was cardiovascular disease, followed in second place by tumours, although in this case the difference between them was just 3.6 percentage points.
Population growth was negative in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa and positive in Álava
With provisional data from 2015, population growth in the Basque Country was negative with deaths exceeding births by 2,131 individuals. By province, Bizkaia had a negative balance, with its population decreasing by 2,163; Gipuzkoa lost 456 people and Álava was the only province with a positive balance, its population increasing by 488 inhabitants.
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 death statistics of the Basque Country
Databank on the death statistics of the Basque Country