Mortality in Slovakia decreased by almost a fifth year-on-year, but it was still higher than before the pandemic

In 2022, almost 60 000 people died in Slovakia, which was the second highest number since the end of the World War II. Compared to the pre-pandemic years, the number of deaths increased sharply in Bratislavský and Trnavský kraj. After taking into account the number of inhabitants, however, the worst situation was in Nitriansky and Banskobystrický kraj. COVID-19 caused the death of 3 000 people and was thus the fifth most common cause of death last year.

In Slovakia, 59.6 thousand people died in 2022, which was less by 19% than in 2021. Despite this decrease, however, Slovakia still recorded excess mortality, the number of deaths was higher by 11% than the average for the 5 years before the onset of the pandemic¹⁾ (as in 2015-2019).

Currently, the Statistical Office of the SR is publishing definitive data on the number of deaths, as well as definitive data on the causes of death in the SR for the entire year 2022.

"The impact of the pandemic on society decreased significantly in 2022, but the slight excess mortality in Slovakia remained. The number of deaths was still the second highest since the end of the Second World War," said Zuzana Podmanická, the Director of the Population Statistics Department of the Statistical Office of the SR.

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic also caused an above-average value of the gross mortality rate last year. It is an indicator enabling to objectively compare mortality in regions that differ fundamentally in terms of size and population.

The number of deaths per 100 000 inhabitants²⁾ already exceeded 1 000 deaths per year in 2020 and even increased to 1 350 in 2021, which was the highest gross mortality rate in the post-war history of Slovakia. Last year, it decreased again to approximately 1 100 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants of Slovakia. And from approximately the 1970s to the outbreak of the pandemic, there were 900 to 1 000 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants. The highest death rate was recorded in 1921, when the number of deaths per 100 000 inhabitants exceeded 2 000.

Fewer working-age people died than before the pandemic

From the perspective of the age structures, the most, up to 78% of the total deaths, were among people of senior age, i.e. in the age group (65+). Their share in the structure of the dead increased even more during the three years of the pandemic. In absolute numbers, up to 46.4 thousand people who died were senior citizens. Year-on-year, the mortality rate in the group of younger seniors (from 65 to 74 years) decreased significantly, by more than a fifth. But the death rate in the age group most at risk from the pandemic was still 25% higher than the average before the pandemic¹⁾.

A positive aspect of last year's development was the fact that fewer people died than in the pre-pandemic years, both among people of productive age (15-64) and among children under 14.

Four regions recorded an above-average value of the gross mortality rate

Last year, the number of deaths decreased at a double-digit rate in all regions of Slovakia compared to 2021. However, the excess mortality continued simultaneously in all 8 regions (compared to the 5-year, pre-pandemic average¹⁾.

Bratislavský kraj recorded the highest (15%) excess mortality compared to the 5-year average before the onset of the pandemic. The number of deaths was closest to the pre-pandemic numbers in Prešovský kraj, in which the mortality was only at the level of 7%.

Among the eight regions of Slovakia in 2022, four regions recorded a higher value of the gross mortality rate than the Slovak average. The long-term record holder is Nitriansky kraj, in which the mortality rate for the entire last year was 1 245 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. The situation was worse than the Slovak average also in Banskobystrický kraj (1 213), Trenčiansky kraj (1 204) and Trnavský kraj (1 134). The lowest mortality rate was recorded by Prešovský kraj (960 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants) and Bratislavský kraj (962).

Fewer people died from COVID-19 last year, it was the fifth most common cause of death

In the third year of the pandemic, significantly fewer deaths from COVID-19 were recorded compared to the first two years. Despite the lower number, it also had a relatively significant impact on the development of mortality in Slovakia in 2022. Almost 3,000 people died of the new infection last year. It was only a fifth of the record number in 2021, but recording a 5% share of the total number of deaths, it was the fifth most common cause of death in Slovakia.

The highest share of deaths from the infection of COVID-19 was represented by people in the age group of older seniors (75 and over), they accounted for approximately two thirds of Covid deaths (1.7 thousand). It was simultaneously confirmed that COVID-19 caused 51 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants (in total, for all causes, the SR recorded 1 097 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants).

However, the situation was different in regions. As in previous year, the worst situation was in Trenčiansky kraj, in which 87 deaths of COVID-19 per 100,000 inhabitants were recorded. On the contrary, the infection affected mortality the least in Košický kraj, recording only 36 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants.

Excess mortality was mainly influenced by diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems

Traditional causes prevailed in the structure of deaths in Slovakia. Almost 26.7 thousand people died from diseases of the circulatory system in 2022, and they accounted for 45% of the total number of deaths. Although the number of diseases of the circulatory system decreased year-on-year, it significantly contributed to the increase in the overall excess mortality in 2022. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, the number of deaths from diseases of the circulatory system was by 4% higher.

Even more than diseases of the circulatory system, the overall mortality rate was increased by deaths caused by diseases of the respiratory system. They recorded a very high, almost 41%, increase in the number of deaths compared to the pre-pandemic period. A part of such a high mortality rate also may be related to the coronavirus. Last year, 5 600 people died from diseases of the respiratory system (9% of all deaths), it was the third most common cause of death in the SR.

According to an analysis of the number of deaths from all causes, which are classified according to the 22 disease groups of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)³⁾, deaths from the second most common cause of death - tumors - fell slightly on average during the five years before the pandemic. For the entire year 2022, their decrease of more than 4% was recorded, when 13 thousand people succumbed to this cause (22% of all deaths).

The fourth most common cause of death was diseases of the digestive system (6% of deaths), which recorded a 15% increase in 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic period.