Press Release 27/07/2020

DEATH STATISTICS. 2019

Deaths in the Basque Country fell by 0.9% in 2019

The average age of people who died was 80.8, three years more than ten years ago

The number of deaths in the Basque Country was 21,560 in 2019, a decrease of 0.9% compared to 2018, according to Eustat data. There were 10,756 male deaths and 10,804 female deaths. Broken down by month, January was the month with the highest number of deaths (2,372), whilst June and September registered the lowest number (1,578).

The average age of people who died in 2019 was 80.8 years of age, whereas ten years before, in 2009, the figure stood at 77.7, meaning that the average age has risen by 3.1 years over the course of the last ten years.

The average age at death amongst men in 2019 was 77.4 years of age, whilst the average age amongst women stood at 84.2. In 2009, the average ages were 74.2 and 81.5, respectively. Thus, over the course of the last 10 years, the average age at death of men has increased by 3.2 years, and that of women by 2.7 years.

As regards child mortality, there were 43 deaths of children under one year of age in the Basque Country in 2019. Mortality amongst newborns, occurring within the first 28 days of life, registered 32 deaths, 10 of which were during the first 24 hours and another 9 in the first week. Within deaths amongst children below the age of 1, boys accounted for 55.8% of the total.

In 2019, 378 people over the age of 100 died, of which 81.2% were women. The number of deaths amongst centenarians has gradually increased in recent years, until reaching its maximum in 2019 (378 people), up sixteen on the figure for 2018.

Population growth was negative in the three provinces

Population growth was negative, as there were 6,142 more deaths than births. There were negative balances in the three provinces: in Bizkaia it was 4,241 people, in Gipuzkoa it was 1,729, and in Álava 172.

Almost a third of deaths were due to tumours

29.3% of the deaths that occurred in 2019 (6,309 deaths) were the result of tumours, followed by deaths resulting from diseases of the circulatory system, which accounted for 26.1% of the total (5,620 deaths) and, in third place, some way behind, were deaths resulting from respiratory diseases, which accounted for 10% of the total (2,158 deaths), and finally mental and behavioural disorders, with 7.8% (1,676).

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, it is worth noting that there was a higher percentage of women among deaths caused by mental and behavioural disorders, in contrast to what occurred with those attributable to external causes, where there was a higher percentage of men.

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 39, the majority of deaths were attributable to external causes, including accidents and suicides; amongst those aged between 40 and 89, tumours were the highest cause of death, whilst amongst those aged 90 years or over, it was diseases of the circulatory system.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62