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2020 Death statistics
Death 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.
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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
followed by the neighbouring Derry and Strabane with an ASMR of 27.0 (per 100,000).
Adjusting for differing age structures within the population, Covid-19 related ASMRs were highest for the 20% most deprived areas at 66.0 deaths per 100,000 population, followed by the 20% least deprived areas at 60.4 deaths (per 100,000). This compares with an ASMR of 55.2 per 100,000 persons for Northern Ireland as a whole.
The highest Covid-19 related ASMR was found in urban areas (66.9 deaths per 100,000 population). This was significantly higher than ASMRs in areas categorised as mixed urban/rural (43.3 deaths per 100,000 population) and rural (36.3 deaths per 100,000 population).
Proportions of Covid-19 related deaths in Northern Ireland by country of birth are in line with proportions from the Northern Ireland 2011 Census. One hundred and two of the 875 (11.7%) Covid-19 related deaths were persons of working age (aged 20-69), of which the largest group (40 persons; 39.2%) were in the skilled trades, elementary occupations or process, plant and machine operative occupational groups. NISRA October 2020
Analysis of Underlying Cause of Death Data, including COVID-19 January - October 2020
Total registered deaths1 by sex and age group, January - October 2020
Sex
Male.......................................................................... 11,361 Female ....................................................................11,055
Age group
Under 25 ..................................................................... 162 25-49............................................................................ 707 50-64 ....................................................................... 2,300 65-79......................................................................... 7,023 80 and over......................................................... 12,224 Total deaths registered .................................. 22,416 1Includes deaths which occurred in 2020 only.
Week Starts (Saturday)
Total Number of Deaths Registered in Week (2020P)
Average number of deaths registered in corresponding week in previous 5 years (2015 to 2019P)
04/01/2020 395 402 11/01/2020 411 391 18/01/2020 347 383 25/01/2020 323 374 01/02/2020 332 346 08/02/2020 306 340 15/02/2020 297 317 22/02/2020 347 343 29/02/2020 312 356 07/03/2020 324 343 14/03/2020 271 297 21/03/2020 287 320 28/01/2020 434 298 04/04/2020 435 295 11/04/2020 424 290 18/04/2020 470 284 25/04/2020 427 320 02/05/2020 336 274 09/08/3030 396 295 16/05/2020 325 290 23/05/2020 316 279 30/05/2020 304 271 06/06/2020 292 293 13/06/2020 290 286 20/06/2020 295 270 27/06/2020 289 288 04/07/2020 275 255 11/07/2020 240 264 18/07/2020 307 265 25/07/2020 273 282 01/08/2020 280 276 08/08/2020 278 265 15/08/2020 313 263 22/08/2020 303 259 29/08/2020 234 255 05/09/2020 296 276 12/09/2020 322 282 19/09/2020 323 288 26/09/2020 328 286 03/10/2020 348 300 10/10/2020 278 295 17/10/2020 391 286 24/10/2020 368 284 31/10/2020 386 296 07/11/2020 406 297 14/11/2020 396 319 21/11/2020 348 311 28/11/2020 387 322 05/12/2020 366 322 12/12/2020 350 344 19/12/2020 310 281 26/12/2020 333 280 Information courtesy of the Central Statistics Office
Rebuilding healthy local lives, step by step
Sadly, the pandemic and ongoing lockdown is taking a huge toll on the health of the population, both physically and mentally. More than ever, it is important that people, families and communities are supported to look after and protect their health through this dark time.
Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke (NICHS) have launched their new ‘Step by Step’ campaign, encouraging people from all backgrounds and abilities to take small steps to get active, rebuild their health and wellbeing, to get local people back on their feet.
The charity has continued supporting thousands of people across Northern Ireland throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, having redesigned a number of their services to continue delivering support online. In 2019/20, the charity has helped people to get back on their feet through: • Investing £2.9 million in services during 2019/20 • Supporting over 25,000 people in schools, workplaces, and communities to live longer, healthier lives • Supporting over 3,300 living with heart, stroke, or respiratory conditions
One of the people the charity has supported during lockdown is Mark McCall. Mark, aged 30 from Belfast, had a stroke in 2018. When he returned home from hospital, he had to sleep downstairs while he tackled relearning to walk and getting back on his feet.
Two weeks after leaving hospital, Mark was introduced to the charity’s services. He says, “The groups were absolutely fantastic. They help people to get out and get to know other people and enjoy themselves and have a bit of a laugh. The groups for me have been phenomenal.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Mark has been taking part in NICHS’s Taking Control Self Management programme on Zoom each Friday. He says, “The course really helps you with living with the effects of a stroke. We Mark McCall
talk about different things each week like exercise, diet, depression and medication. You get more information and find out different bits and pieces from each other that really helps. The smallest things can help. I look forward to it on a Friday.”
On the help he has received from the charity, Mark says, “I don’t know what I would have done without the services though. It would be a very dark place if there was no chest, heart and stroke group. It’s a fantastic service.”
To find out how you can help Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke rebuild healthy local lives like Mark’s, visit www.nichs.org. uk/stepbystep
ECC Refrigeration and Air Conditioning keeping Funeral Directors cool
East Coast Cooling have, over the past 20 years’, created a strong reputation for themselves through work with the commercial sector throughout Ireland, the strong relationships they have built with Funeral Directors playing a key role in their success to date. Based in Dundrum, County Down, the firm has many friends in the funeral industry throughout Ireland.
Suppliers of Cold storage solutions, East Coast Cooling are able to offer bespoke cold storage rooms for mortuaries and funeral homes alike, and tailor to the smallest of details to ensure that the product you receive is exactly what will work for your business. All rooms are of course manufactured and installed to the highest quality by the team of highly experienced refrigeration engineers.
Available across the island of Ireland, the design team are always available to advise how the space you have available in your funeral home or mortuary can work best for you. One of the key staples of East Coast Cooling’s stellar reputation and, given the current situation in which we find ourselves, one which has been much sought after through the past year, is air conditioning systems.
With free site surveys always available, a number of business’ from right across the funeral trade in Ireland have been in touch to enquire about the use of such systems in their fight to both protect and ensure a level of comfort for staff and customers alike.
For any enquiries or simply for more information, contact East Coast Cooling on Tel: 028 4375 0877 or 07515 486 944. E: info@ eastcoastcooling.co.uk / www.eastcoastcooling.co.uk
All our rooms are manufactured and installed to the highest quality by our team of highly experienced refrigeration engineers. We offer our customers custom design ideas to suit their business needs. Based in Newcastle, Co. Down, our services are available throughout N. Ireland and Rep. of Ireland.
