Alex Trelinski
DEATHS in Spain fell by 8.7% in 2021 according to figures compiled by the National Institute of Statistics(INE).
450,744 died last year- a drop of 43,032 on the 2020 total when the Covid pandemic was in full flow with no vaccinations.
The 2021 mortality rate stood at 952.3 deaths per 100,000 people.
By sex, 231,410 men passed away(7.3% fewer than in 2020) and 219,334 women died(10.2% less than the previous year).
96.3% of deaths were down to natural causes.
In comparison with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, deaths were up by 7.7%.
The leading cause of 2021 fatalities according to the INE report were diseases of the circulatory system(26.4%) and tumors(25.2%).
Infectious diseases, which include Covid-19, were the third highest category accounting for 10.2% of fatalities, followed by respiratory deaths on 7.9%.
Provisional figures for the first half of 2022 released by the INE show that 20,915 died from Covid-19 as opposed to 29,300 in the same period last year.
The INE also said the number of suicides rose by 5.1% in the first six months of 2022 from a year earlier, to register 2,015 deaths – the most among any external cause such as falls, drownings and car accidents.
