Deaths in Bulgaria in Q1 2021 up by 26.1% y/y – statistics institute
The number of deaths in Bulgaria in the first quarter of 2021 – counting from the first to the 13th week – was 36 152, an increase of 26.1 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2020, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said.
The figures come against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The crude mortality rate – meaning the ratio of the number of deaths during the year to the average annual population in that year expressed per 1000 inhabitants – was 21.1‰, the NSI said.
Mortality among males (22.9‰) was higher than among females (19.3‰).
The highest mortality in the first quarter of 2021 was registered in the 13th week (March 29 – April 4) – 3 945, or 29.8 per 1000 people of the average annual population. This was the highest rate for the first quarter in the period 2016 – 2021.
The lowest number of deaths in the first quarter of 2021 was in the sixth week – 2329 people or 17.6 ‰.
The highest positive number of deaths in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the average for the period 2016 – 2020 was 1845 cases in 13 weeks, meaning that mortality increased by 88.5 per cent compared to the base period.
In the first quarter of the period 2016 – 2021, the age distribution of the deaths remained the same in the age groups up to 69 years of age.
There was an increase in the first 13 weeks of 2021 in the share of deaths in the age groups from 70 to 79 years and a decrease in the age group over 80 years, the NSI said.
There was an increase in the absolute number of deaths in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 in all districts of Bulgaria.
The highest growth are in the districts of Kyustendil (41 per cent), Pleven (39.7 per cent), Pazardzhik (38.2 per cent), Vratsa (38 per cent) and Bourgas (37.4 per cent).
The lowest growth was in Turgovishte (4.5 per cent), Razgrad (7.5 per cent), Yambol (8.8 per cent) and Gabrovo (9.4 per cent), the NSI said.
(Photo of the main entrance to Sofia Central Cemetery: Edal Anton Lefterov)
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