Press Release 13/02/2023

DEATH STATISTICS. III/2022

Deaths increased by 8.4% in the third quarter of 2022 in the Basque Country

This increase was concentrated in July, when deaths increased by 29.6%

In the third quarter of 2022 the number of deaths in the Basque Country stood at 6,015, up 8.4% on the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data. The cumulative total between January and September 2022 stood at 18,229 deaths, 7.5% more than in 2021.

In August and September deaths fell by 0.5% and 2.9% respectively, in relation to the same months of the previous year, for which the overall result in this quarter was exclusively due to the almost 30% increase in mortality in July.

Moreover, COVID-19 caused a total of 367 deaths in the quarter, 32% more than in the same months of 2021.

Deaths increased in all three provinces, with 11.5% increase in Álava (755 deaths) being particularly significant. The rise in Álava was due to the fact that mortality increased over the three months, by 24.9% in July, 8.9% in August and 1.4% in September. In Bizkaia, the increase was 9.2% for the quarter as a whole, with 3,324 deaths. In July deaths rose by 38.9% and in August and September they were down 3.9% and 5.1% respectively. In Gipuzkoa, the increase this quarter was more moderate at 5.9%, in other words 1,936 deaths. In July and August deaths rose by 16.6% and 1.9% respectively; in contrast, in September there was a decrease of 0.8%.

By sex, 3,107 women and 2,908 men died, which was an increase of 13.6% for women and 3.3% for men.

Of the deaths that occurred in this second quarter, 8 corresponded to children under 1 year of age (0.1%) and 109 to centenarians (1.8%).

The main causes of death were tumours and circulatory system diseases, which caused the deaths of 1,605 and 1,319 individuals respectively, which means that together they accounted for 48.6% of deaths. Diseases of the nervous system were the third cause of death resulting in 399 deaths (6.6%). COVID-19 was the main cause in 367 deaths (6.1%).

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 diseases of the circulatory system, followed by tumours in second place.

Population growth in the Basque Country in the third quarter of 2022 was negative, with a population decrease of 2,509. The population decreased in the three provinces: by 1,550 people in Bizkaia, 767 in Gipuzkoa and 192 in Álava.

There were 367 deaths as a result of COVID-19 in the third quarter of 2022

COVID-19 caused a total of 367 deaths, 89 more than in the same quarter of 2021 (up 32%), and 10 more than occurred in the same months of 2020 (up 2.8%). All these deaths were confirmed as being due to COVID-19; there were a further 135 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 215, followed by Gipuzkoa with 110 and Álava with 42. As regards the capitals, Bilbao stands out with 88 deaths caused by COVID-19, followed by Vitoria-Gasteiz with 28 and Donostia/San Sebastián with 26. Other notable municipalities were Barakaldo, with 19 deaths, Irun with 18 and Getxo with 11.

The number of deaths of men (191) exceeded those of women (176), while, by age, the most affected group was those older than 80 years old, where 78.5% of deaths from COVID-19 were caused, 288 deaths.

The majority of these deaths occurred in Basque hospitals (82.8%, 86.5% in the third quarter of 2021), followed by residential care homes (7.9%, 8.9% in the third quarter of 2021) and at home (9.3%, 3.9% in the third quarter of 2021).

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