According to preliminary results from Statistics Austria, 90,434 people died in Austria in 2021 – 9.1 percent or 7,559 people more than in the five years before the pandemic (average from 2015 to 2019: 82,875 deaths). The most common causes of death were cardiovascular diseases and cancer. 7,857 people or 8.7 percent died of Covid-19, men (4,257 Covid-19 deaths) more frequently than women (3,600 Covid-19 deaths).
As early as 2020, there were significantly more deaths due to the pandemic than in previous years (10.5 percent or 8,724 deaths more than the average for the years 2015 to 2019). This was reported by Statistics Austria on Thursday.
Deaths due to Covid-19 occurred mainly in old age: The average age of those who died from Covid-19 was 77.7 years for men and 82.9 for women. The proportion of Covid-19 as a cause of death increased for both men and women from adulthood and was highest for both sexes between the ages of 75 and 85.
There were also regional differences in the proportion of people who died from Covid-19 in 2021: Carinthia (10.5 percent), Salzburg (9.6 percent) and Vienna (9.5 percent) had the highest proportions, in Tyrol (6, 3 percent), Vorarlberg (6.8 percent) and Burgenland (7.8 percent), these were the lowest.
Clear connection between deaths and infection numbers
Over the two years of the pandemic, there was a clear connection between high infection rates and an increase in Covid 19 deaths. In terms of calendar weeks, 2021 began with a declining number of Covid-19 deaths from the second wave of infections in autumn 2020, which almost seamlessly transitioned into a renewed increase in spring 2021. Autumn 2021 again brought higher numbers of Covid 19 deaths. At the peak of the autumn wave 2021 (calendar weeks 47 and 48 from November 22 to December 5, 2021) there were more deaths from Covid-19 than from cancer.
In addition to those who died from Covid-19, the cause of death statistics for 2021 showed a further 1,192 people (1.3 percent of all deaths in 2021) with Covid-19 as a concomitant disease. In these cases, Covid-19 was classified as a disease accelerating the death process.
Mortality from cancer fell slightly, decline in suicides
Cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality has fallen slightly compared to pre-pandemic years. In contrast, in 2021 (as in 2020) significantly more people died of dementia (up 22 percent; 2020: up twelve percent) and Parkinson’s disease (up eight percent; 2020: up six percent). This continued a trend from the run-up to the pandemic.
The most notable decrease compared to pre-pandemic years has been in influenza and pneumonia-related mortality. Here the number of deaths fell by 52 percent in 2021 (2020: minus 17 percent) compared to the average for the five years 2015 to 2019, mainly due to the failure of the flu season due to measures to contain the corona pandemic. Chronic heart diseases also showed a decline in mortality in the two years of the pandemic (minus 16 percent in 2021 and minus nine percent in 2020 compared to 2015/2019). Mortality from transportation accidents was also lower in 2021 (down 14 percent; 2020: down 16 percent).
Last but not least, the number of suicides continued to decrease. In 2021 there was a decrease of around twelve percent and in 2020 around 13 percent compared to the years before the pandemic (average 2015/2019).
Source: Nachrichten
