The Ministry of Health published today (Wed) a report that includes the leading causes of death in Israel between the years 2000 and 2020, and the mortality rate in the last three years. The report shows that without mortality from corona, there was no excess mortality in the country in these years, and that the state of Israel continues to be good in relation to the world.
In 2020, the first year of the Corona virus, there were 48,797 deaths in Israel, when compared to the year before it, this is a six percent increase and a ten percent increase from 2018.
Until the beginning of the corona epidemic in 2020, the age-standardized mortality rate in Israel decreased in the last two decades by 29% for males and 28% for females. Compared to the average between 2017 and 2019, the death rate in 2020 increased by 4% for males and 2% for females, in 2021 it increased by 4% and 3.5% respectively, and in 2022 it increased by 3.6% and 2 % respectively. The rate of deaths during the Corona period, from March 2020 to December 2022, increased by 7% compared to the average of 2017-2019. Without calculating the corona deaths, the rate dropped to only 2%.
In 2020, the age-adjusted rate decreased for most of the leading causes: perinatal circumstances, kidney disease, accidents, cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. At the same time, the rate of death from hypertension, pneumonia from inhaling solids or liquids, and diabetes increased. In aortic aneurysm and pneumonia and influenza the rate increased for males and decreased for females, in anemia the rate increased for females and decreased for males, in dementia the rate increased for females and decreased for males.
For those who died with Corona as the main cause of death, concomitant diseases were recorded. 34% of men and women also had heart disease, 30% of men and 29% of women had pneumonia and influenza, 23% and 19% had kidney disease, 13% of men and women had diabetes, 6% of men And 12% of women have dementia, 6% of men and women have cancer and 6% of men and women have cerebrovascular diseases. The Ministry of Health says that the multiple reasons show that the corona burdened patients with chronic illness.
Israel is ranked the lowest in males and the second lowest in females in the age-standardized death rate in 2020, this is among eight countries for which information for 2020 was published by the World Health Organization – Israel, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Great Britain and the United States. In the age-standardized death rate from Corona, Israel ranks second lowest.
The age-standardized total mortality rate increased in these eight countries in 2020, compared to the average between 2017 and 2019. In Germany there was a 1 percent increase for males and no change for females, in Israel the rate increased by 3%, in Austria, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom there was a 6-9% increase, and in the Czech Republic, Spain and the United States there was a 12-15 percent increase. In most countries, the rate decreased for many causes of death, including cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, sepsis, and kidney disease, and increased for diabetes. Corona was ranked as the third cause of death in most countries, except for Germany, which was ranked fifth. The number of deaths from corona in Israel was high in April and July until December 2020.
Israel is ranked sixth lowest in the age-standardized death rate in 2019, with males ranked second lowest and females seventh lowest, among 25 Western countries and in accordance with information published by the World Health Organization.
Israel ranks lower than Canada, the United States and most Western European countries in the age-standardized death rate for cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, liver disease, accidents and suicide. Also, Israel has a higher rate than the average of the 15 European Union countries in the age-adjusted death rate for sepsis, kidney disease, diabetes, pneumonia and influenza, and hypertension.
Cancer was ranked as the first cause of death in Israel and heart disease the second cause of death, as in the average of 15 European Union countries and Canada.
