Press Release 06/03/2017

DEATH STATISTICS. III/2016

Deaths rose by 3.3% in the third quarter of 2016

Almost two thirds of deaths were of people aged over 80

In the third quarter of 2016 the figure for deaths in the Basque Country stood at 5,045, which was an increase of 3.3% 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, 2,601 (51.6%) were men and 2,444 (48.4%) were women.

Deaths increased in the three provinces: in Álava 655 people died, an increase of 2.3%; in 2,768 in Bizkaia (+4.1%), and 1,622 in Gipuzkoa (+2.2%).

If we consider the age at the time of death, 20% of the people who died were under 70 years of age, 17% were between 70 and 79, 40% were between 80 and 89, and the remaining 23%, more than 1,186 people, had turned 90.

Amongst the deaths that occurred in the third quarter of 2016, 11 corresponded to children under the age of one, 9 boys and 2 girls.

A third of deaths were due to tumours

The main causes of death were tumours and circulatory system diseases, which caused the deaths of 1,611 and 1,251 individuals, respectively, which mean that together they caused 56.7% of deaths. As a third cause of death were respiratory diseases, which resulted in 415 deaths (8,2%).

Diseases of the respiratory system increased the most, at 19.3%, followed by diseases of the nervous system, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which rose by 9.9% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Tumours were the main cause of death among both sexes for the first time, both among men (37.1%) and women (26.4%), although there is a difference of over 10 percentage points. In second place was cardiovascular diseases in both sexes. However, the third cause of death was diseases of the respiratory system (9.2%) in the case of men, whereas for women it was diseases of the nervous system (8.6%).

Population growth in the Basque Country was negative in the third quarter of 2016, with deaths exceeding births by 299 individuals. By province, only Bizkaia had a negative balance, with its population falling by 448 people. Regarding Álava and Gipuzkoa, both increased their population by 140 and 9 inhabitants, respectively.

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