Press Release 23/09/2020

DEATH STATISTICS I/2020

Deaths increased by 7.7% in the first quarter of 2020 in the Basque Country, primarily due to COVID-19

90% of deaths due to COVID-19 occurred in elderly people aged over 70

In the first quarter of 2020 the number of deaths in the Basque Country stood at 6,475, 7.7% down on the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data.

Deaths increased in the three provinces, being particularly significant the increase in Álava, where it reached 33.8%, 962 people. 3,549 people died in Bizkaia, an increase of 5.5%, and there were 1,964 deaths in Gipuzkoa, a rise of 1.9%. By sex, 3,216 men and 3,259 women died, which was an increase of 7% for men and 8.4% for women.

Amongst the deaths that occurred in this first quarter, 13 corresponded to children under 1 year of age and 77 to centenarians.

The main causes of death were tumours and circulatory system diseases, which caused the deaths of 1,662 and 1,501 individuals, respectively, which means that together they accounted for 48.9% of deaths. The third cause of death was respiratory diseases, which resulted in 693 deaths (10.7%). COVID-19 was the fourth cause of death, with 500 cases.

Deaths caused by respiratory diseases fell by 17.3% in respect of the same quarter of the previous year and increased by 44.7% in respect of the fourth quarter of 2019.

As regards deaths due to diseases of the nervous system, these totalled 394, which was a rise of 10.1% in respect of the same quarter of the previous year and of 16.2% in respect of the fourth quarter of 2019.

There were 247 deaths as a result of digestive diseases, 5.6% down on the same period of the previous year.

The cause of death continued to vary according to sex. Among men, tumours caused more deaths than diseases of the circulatory system, whilst among women 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.

Population growth in the Basque Country in the first quarter of 2020 was negative, with a population decrease of 2,752. The population decreased in the three provinces: by 1,687 people in Bizkaia, 699 in Gipuzkoa and 366 in Álava.

There were 500 deaths due to COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2020, all of them in March

The COVID-19 pandemic began in the first quarter of 2020 and the first deaths occurred in March, a total of 500, classified into 2 groups: 427 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 73 probable COVID-19 deaths; there were a further 17 deaths in which COVID-19 was among the certified causes of death, but without being the main cause.

By province, the highest figure corresponded to Bizkaia, with 240, followed by Álava with 180 and Gipuzkoa with 80. As regards the capitals, Vitoria-Gasteiz stands out with 151 deaths caused by COVID-19, followed by Bilbao with 77 and Donostia/San Sebastián with 17. Another municipality of note is Basuri, with 40 deaths.

The number of deaths of men (302) exceeded by over 50% that of women (198), while, by age, the most affected groups were those aged 80-89 (219), followed by those aged 70-79 (112), 90-99 (107) and 60-69 (41), with very slight or null presence in the other age groups.

The majority of these deaths occurred in Basque hospitals (79.8%), followed by residential care homes (10.6%), at home (7.2%) or other locations (2.4%).

It is important to highlight that the increase in deaths observed in March 2020 compared to the same month of 2019 (686 deaths) does not correspond in its entirety to deaths due to COVID-19 (the aforementioned 500 deaths).

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