Causes of death

Decrease of COVID-19, tumours remain the main cause of death in 2021

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Decrease of COVID-19, tumours remain the main cause of death in 2021

Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today the causes of deaths for 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic still caused 10,046 deaths in Belgium in 2021, or 8.9% of all deaths. Therefore, COVID-19, the contagious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is the third cause of death in 2021, just like the year before. About half as many (-54.4%) people died from COVID-19 in 2021 than in 2020, when there were 22,012 deaths from COVID-19.

Tumours remain the main cause of death. A total of 27,205 people died from tumours (malignant, benign or uncertain), or 24.2% of all deaths in 2021. The number of deaths due to tumours is very similar to a year earlier (27,209 deaths). 26,450 Belgians died from diseases of the circulatory system (CVD), i.e. 23.6% of all deaths. This figure too is quite similar to that observed in 2020, when there were 26,289 deaths (+0.6%). Together, these three groups (tumours, CVD, COVID-19) account for more than half of all deaths (56.7%).

The Flemish and Walloon Regions follow the national ranking. In the Brussels-Capital Region, the first two places are the same, but the third place goes to the large group of ‘other natural deaths’ (including, among others, diseases of the blood, of the eye, of the ear, of the musculoskeletal system, of the skin, cases related to pregnancy and those not elsewhere classified). COVID-19 ranks fourth.

Number of deaths for the three main causes of death, per region

  Tumours (C00-D48) Diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99) Covid-19 (U071–U072)
Number % Number % Number %
Brussels-Capital Region 1,914 21.6% 1,889 21.3% 1,003 11.3%
Flemish Region 16,225 25.2% 15,701 24.3% 5,368 8.3%
Walloon Region 9,066 23.3% 8,860 22.8% 3,675 9.4%
Belgium 27,205 24.2% 26,450 23.6% 10,046 8.9%

Men die most often from tumours, women from diseases of the circulatory system

Men follow the national ranking more closely: the main cause of death is a tumour in 26.4% of cases (14,959 deaths) and a disease of the circulatory system in 21.9% of cases (12,444 deaths). For women, the order is reversed. The main causes of death are diseases of the circulatory system (25.2% or 14,006 deaths), followed by tumours with 12,246 deaths among women (22.0%). We observe the same trends per gender in the three regions of the country: in each region, women died more often than men from diseases of the circulatory system than from a tumour.

More men died from COVID-19 than women

Interestingly, more men than women died as a result of COVID-19 in 2021: 5,673 men compared to 4,373 women. This corresponds to a mortality rate (MR) of 99.6 deaths per 100,000 men, compared to 74.6 deaths per 100,000 women.

In 2020, it was the other way around: slightly more women died from COVID-19 than men (11,281 women compared to 10,731 men, or a mortality rate (MR) of 193.2 deaths per 100,000 women, compared to 189.3 deaths per 100,000 men).

 

Breakdown of COVID-19 deaths per gender 2020-2021

  Men Women Total
Number Mortality rate Number Mortality rate Number Mortality rate
2020 10,731 189.3 11,281 193.2 22,012 191.3
2021 5,673 99.6 4,373 74.6 10,046 87.0

The people who died from COVID-19 are on average younger than in 2020

Compared to 2020, the average age of people who died from COVID-19 was lower: 79.6 years in 2021 versus 83 years in 2020. While in 2020 only 6.1% of the deceased were younger than 65, this share amounted to 10.8% in 2021. Men were on average 77.8 years old, women 81.9 years old.

Breakdown of COVID-19 deaths per gender and age group (2021)

Age group Men Women Total
Number % Number % Number %
0-24 9 0.2 5 0.1 14 0.1%
25-44 49 0.9 33 0.8 82 0.8%
45-64 673 11.9 314 7.2 987 9.8%
65-74 1,212 21.4 614 14.0 1,826 18.2%
75-84 1,907 33.6 1,248 28.5 3,155 31.4%
85+ 1,823 32.1 2,159 49.4 3,982 39.6%
Total 5,673 100 4,373 100 10,046 100%

COVID-19 mortality rate is the highest in Wallonia

The highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 was observed in the Flemish region (5,368 deaths, or 53.4% of all COVID-19 deaths). In Wallonia and Brussels, there were 3,675 (36.6%) and 1,003 (10.0%) deaths, respectively. However, if we take the population size into account, Wallonia ranks first, with a mortality rate of 100.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. It is followed by the Brussels-Capital Region, with a mortality rate of 82.1 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. The mortality rate in Flanders was 80.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

COVID-19 deaths per region (2021)

Region Number % Mortality rate
Brussels-Capital Region% 1,003 10.0% 82.1
Flemish Region% 5,368 53.4% 80.4
Walloon Region% 3,675 36.6% 100.5
Belgium% 10,046 100.0% 87.0

Notes

Based on statistical death bulletins, which are managed by the federated entities, the statistic on causes of death has now a homogeneous series for the period 1998-2021. This homogeneity of the series is achieved because the three federated institutions concerned use the tenth revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) to code the causes of death and to identify, among them, the initial cause on the basis of which the main tables of the statistic are produced.

The mortality rate is calculated as:

                                           number of deaths                                               
x 105
(legal population 01.01.2020 + legal population 01.01.2021)/2

or the number of deaths divided by the average population on 1 January 2021 and 2022, multiplied by 100,000.

Abbreviations used

CVD: cardiovascular diseases or diseases of the circulatory system
MR: mortality rate

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Covid-19 (2020)
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Causes
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Number of deaths for the three main causes of death, per region

  Tumours (C00-D48) Diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99) Covid-19 (U071–U072)
Number % Number % Number %
Brussels-Capital Region 1,914 21.6 1,889 21.3 1,003 11.3%
Flemish Region 16,225 25.2 15,701 24.3 5,368 8.3%
Walloon Region 9,066 23.3 8,860 22.8 3,675 9.4%
Belgium 27,205 24.2 26,450 23.6 10,046 8.9%
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Purpose and brief description

Statistics on causes of death are compiled using the statistical declaration-of-death forms (Model IIIC and Model IIID) which are filled in by a certifying doctor for every death that takes place in Belgium and then completed by the municipal authorities of the place of death. These forms are forwarded to the Communities which check, code and input the information in order to compile their own statistics. The databases are then forwarded to Statbel, which assembles them to compile statistics at the federal level. To this end, Statbel links the forms with the deaths registered in the RNPP. This makes it possible: to check and complete the available information; to exclude from the statistics the deaths taking place in Belgium of people who do not legally reside in the country; and, finally, to include in the statistics the deaths taking place abroad of people who legally reside in Belgium and for whom no civil status form was filled in. The aforementioned coupling and inclusion have only been effective since 2010. This means that deaths abroad of people residing in Belgium were previously not included in the federal statistics.

Since 1998, the coding of causes of deaths is carried out according to the WHO's tenth revision of International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). All the tables of the statistics break down the deaths into various groups of causes, also making a distinction according to five-year age groups and gender.

Population

Inhabitants in Belgium

Periodicity

Annually.

Release calendar

Results available 2 years after the reference period

Definitions

Gender: Gender of the deceased

Cause of death: Original cause of death

Age groups: Age of the deceased, in five-year age groups

Region of residence: Region of residence of the deceased

Nomenclature

WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

Metadata