Deaths in 2020 10.6% higher than 2015 – 2019 average

  • Lusa
  • 22 January 2021

According to the Statistics Portugal (INE), the number of deaths in Portugal in 2020 was 10.6% higher than the average for the previous five years.

The number of deaths in Portugal in 2020 was 10.6% higher than the average for the previous five years, according to the Statistics Portugal (INE), which registered 123,409 deaths, 12,220 more than the average between 2015 and 2019.

By December 31, there were 6,906 deaths attributed to Covid-19, or 56% of the excess mortality in 2020 compared to the 2015-2019 average.

According to preliminary data from the INE, during the first two months of last year mortality was lower than the reference period of the previous five years, but after the first cases of contagion by the new coronavirus were diagnosed, the excess mortality increased every month.

From March to the end of 2020, there were 101,669 deaths in Portugal, 13,495 more than the average for the same period measured between 2015 and 2019.

One-fifth of the deaths in the first week of 2021 were attributed to Covid-19, the INE said, which recorded 3,634 deaths in total, 830 more than the average for the same period between 2015 and 2019.