The number of deaths in November approached the state before the pandemic, over 80 people succumbed to the infection of COVID-19

The overall death rate in Slovakia dropped to 2%, in two regions the number of deaths was even lower than the five-year average before the pandemic. COVID-19 dropped to the eighth place in the ranking of the most common causes of death.

Almost 4.4 thousand people died in Slovakia in November, which is the second lowest number in the last thirteen months. The number of deaths was higher by 2% than the average value of the same month in 2015-2019 before the onset of the pandemic¹⁾. This follows from preliminary data on the number of deaths and causes of death in November 2022, published by the Statistical Office of the SR. The Office also adjusted the data for the first ten months of this year.

"The overall death rate in November was the lowest ever this year. On the contrary, we recorded the highest values this year in the Slovak Republic in March, when it reached over 21% with almost 5 000 deaths. At the same time, in November of last year 2021, it was approximately at the level of up to 75%," said Zuzana Podmanická, Director of the Population Statistics Department of the Statistical Office of the SR.

After a month, the development of mortality among younger seniors (from 65 to 74 years old) was significantly worse than among people over 75 years old. The excess mortality of younger seniors was more than 17%, while it was only at the level of less than 2% for older seniors.

A lower number of deaths compared to the 5-year average before the onset of the pandemic was recorded only in Nitriansky kraj (by 3%) and Trenčiansky kraj (by 1%). The remaining six regions reached excess mortality, the lowest in Trnavský kraj (1%) and the highest in Košický kraj (7%).

COVID-19 has dropped in the list of the most common causes of death

A total of 81 people died in November as a result of the COVID-19 infection. Their number decreased by almost half month-on-month, and the share of victims of this disease thus represented less than 2% of all deaths. Among 22 groups of diseases²⁾, this cause of death dropped from the sixth place in October to the current eighth place.

The most common causes of death in the eleventh month of this year were diseases of the circulatory system, which accounted for 47% of deaths (almost 2.1 thousand persons) and tumours for 23% (approximately 1 thousand persons). These two groups of deaths have long been among the most common causes of death. The same number of people died from diseases of the circulatory system in November as the average for the years 2015-2019. In the case of tumours, fewer people died for the fifth consecutive month than the five-year average, currently by almost 12%.

In November, the first five most common causes²⁾ were completed by deaths from diseases of the respiratory system (recorded an 8% share), digestive system (7%) and external causes of death (5%).