Press Release 24/07/2017
Women accounted for 85% of the total number of deaths of centenarians in the Basque Country in 2016
Deaths fell by 1.3% compared to 2015
The number of deaths in the Basque Country was 21,222 in 2016, a decrease of 1.3% compared to 2015, according to Eustat data. There were 10,783 male deaths and 10,439 female deaths. Broken down by month, December registered the highest number of deaths (2,059), whilst June registered the lowest number (1,589).
In 2016, 294 people over the age of 100 died, of which 84.4% were women. The number of deaths amongst centenarians has gradually increased in recent years, until reaching its historic high in 2015 (344 people).
The average age of women who died was 83.4, whilst the average age of men was 76.8
The average age of people who died in 2016 was 80 years of age, whereas ten years before, in 2006, the figure stood at 76.6, meaning that the average age has risen by 3.4 years over the course of the last ten years.
The average age at death amongst men in 2016 was 76.8 years of age, whilst the average age amongst women stood at 83.4. In 2006, the average ages were 72.9 and 80.9, respectively. Thus, over the course of the last 10 years, the average age at death of men has increased by 3.9 years, and that of women by 2.5 years.
Population growth was negative, as there were 2,982 fewer births than deaths. By territory, negative balances were registered in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, where the population fell by 2,608 and 761, respectively. By contrast, in Álava, the number of deaths was lower than the number of births, thereby producing a positive balance by 387 people.
As regards child mortality, there were 46 deaths of children under one year of age in the Basque Country. Mortality amongst newborns, occurring within the first 28 days of life, registered 26 deaths, 10 of which were during the first 24 hours and another 12 in the first week. Within deaths amongst children below the age of 1, girls accounted for 39.1% of the total.
56.8% of deaths were the result of tumours and diseases of the circulatory system
29.8% of the deaths that occurred in 2016 (6,320 deaths) were the result of tumours, followed by deaths resulting from diseases of the circulatory system, which accounted for 27% of the total (5,727 deaths) and, in third place, some way behind, were deaths resulting from respiratory diseases, which accounted for 9.7% of the total (2,055 deaths) and, lastly, those of the nervous system with 6.8% (1,436). The prevalence of these four groups of illnesses that were responsible for the highest number of deaths has varied over the course of the last decade: whilst deaths resulting from tumours have increased by 13.3%, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases have risen by 2% and 18.2%, respectively, and diseases of the nervous system by 52.9%, most notably Alzheimer´s which accounted for 770 deaths.
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 from 1 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, it was diseases of the circulatory system.
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