2020 Death statistics D
eath statistics tell us about long term trends in death rates among different age groups and across the entire population. Governments both in Ireland and Northern Ireland also capture statistics in great detail regarding causes and locations of death. Last year the release of statistics has inevitably been impacted by Covid-19 but both the Central Statistics Office and The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency have released some data. The NISRA have helpfully published the following commentary on Covid-19 deaths and as rates haven’t varied much between north and south a similar picture emerges across the island.
Analysis of Covid-19 related deaths: March - August 2020 The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) has published a quarterly Covid-19 bulletin reflecting Covid-19 related deaths that occurred (based on the date of death) in Northern Ireland between 1st March and 31st August 2020. The statistics show that Covid-19 related deaths (875) accounted for 10.9% of all deaths in Northern Ireland over the six-month period. Agestandardised mortality rates (ASMRs) are used to directly compare mortality rates for different groups, including males with females, or regions, using the age structure of a standard population. The Covid-19 related ASMR for March to
August was 55.2 per 100,000 persons. Males had a significantly higher rate of death linked to Covid-19: the ASMR for males was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 of the male population compared with 45.8 deaths per 100,000 females. Monthly Covid-19 ASMRs per 100,000 were highest in April (36.7 for males and 23.4 for females) and lowest in August (1.9 for males and 0.6 for females). Belfast Local Government District (LGD) had the highest Covid-19 related ASMR with 90.0 deaths per 100,000, followed by the neighbouring Antrim and Newtownabbey LGD at 73.1 (per 100,000). Fermanagh and Omagh had the lowest Covid-19 related ASMR of 17.2 (per 100,000),
Deaths in Northern Ireland by Month of Registration, 2006-2020P
P
Provisional Data
Month of Registration Year Registration 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019P 2020P January 1,538 1,433 1,535 1,523 1,599 1,499 1,818 2,101 1,565 1,668 February 1,176 1,267 1,310 1,192 1,393 1,332 1,391 1,456 1,301 1,282 March 1,305 1,316 1,370 1,294 1,475 1,344 1,449 1,487 1,345 1,380 April 1,096 1,281 1,448 1,219 1,261 1,257 1,148 1,281 1,354 1,933 May 1,223 1,329 1,239 1,095 1,157 1,214 1,360 1,166 1,349 1,444 June 1,164 1,110 1,045 1,042 1,351 1,254 1,262 1,146 1,118 1,307 July 985 1,132 1,224 1,151 1,175 1,149 1,178 1,149 1,243 1,257 August 1,203 1,167 1,079 1,109 993 1,258 1,172 1,230 1,166 1,174 September 1,076 1,050 1,159 1,284 1,322 1,216 1,163 1,095 1,200 1,384 October 1,128 1,259 1,217 1,308 1,260 1,257 1,333 1,347 1,302 November 1,134 1,235 1,185 1,155 1,251 1,337 1,403 1,231 1,396 December 1,176 1,177 1,157 1,306 1,311 1,313 1,359 1,233 1,419 Total 14,204 14,756 14,968 14,678 15,548 15,430 16,036 15,922 15,758 12,829 32 | FuneralTimes
