Jewish cemetery (Wikipedia photo)
The report “Leading causes of death 2000-2020 and mortality rate in the years 2020-2022” of the Ministry of Health, presents trends in the mortality rate and the leading causes of death in Israel, as well as a comparison of the causes of death in the first year of the corona virus 2020 to the average of the three years before the corona virus 2017-2019.
The information is based on the registration of the death notices according to the law at the Ministry of the Interior, and the information on the causes of death is based on the digitization in the Central Bureau of Statistics, according to the completion of the death notice by the doctor who determined the causes of death, and update processes from other sources of information.
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Below are the main points of the report:
Number of deaths: in 2020, there were 48,797 deaths in Israel, an increase of 6% from 2019, and 10% from 2018.
The age-standardized death rate: the age-standardized death rate in Israel decreased in the two decades 2000-2019 (by 29% for males and 28% for females), and was on a downward trend until the start of the Corona epidemic in 2020. Compared to the 2019-2017 average, in 2020 the death rate 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.
Death rate during the corona period March 2020-December 2022 compared to the 2017-2019 average: the raw death rate (without age adjustment) increased by an average of 7%, for males by 8% and for females by 6%, and without corona deaths the rate decreased by 2% for males and females. Among young people aged 15-44, in March-December 2020 and in 2022, no significant difference was found and in 2021 the rate was significantly higher for males by 7%, probably following the Miron disaster. The rate for females aged 15-44 was 6% lower and without corona deaths 11% lower.
At the age of 45-64, the rate was lower for women by 4% and for men there was no significant difference, without corona deaths the rate of deaths was lower by 11% and 10%, respectively. At the age of 65-74, the rate was significantly higher for men at 8% and for women at 2%, and without corona deaths the rate was significantly lower for women at 6% and for men without a significant difference.
At the age of 75-84, the rate for men was significantly higher by 4% and for women no significant difference was found, and without corona deaths the rate was significantly lower for men at 7% and for women at 8%. At age 85 and older, the rate was significantly higher for men at 6% and for women at 8%, and without corona deaths for men it was significantly lower at 3%, and for women no significant difference was found.
Percentage change in causes of death in 2020 compared to the 2017-2019 average: In 2020, the age-standardized rate decreased for most of the leading causes, perinatal causes, kidney disease, accidents, cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease, and increased for hypertension, inhalation pneumonia solids or liquids and in diabetes. 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.
Those who died with Corona as the primary cause of death had concomitant diseases, 34% of men and women had heart diseases, 30% of men and 29% of women had pneumonia and influenza, 23% and 19% had kidney diseases, respectively, for 13 % of men and women have 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 multiple reasons show that the corona burdened patients with chronic illness.
International comparison for 2020: Israel is ranked the lowest for males and the second lowest for females, in the age-standardized mortality rate in 2020, among eight countries for which information for 2020 was published by the World Health Organization. In the age-standardized death rate from Corona, Israel ranks second lowest.
The rate of total deaths standardized for age increased in these eight countries in 2020, this is compared to the average of the years 2017-2019 – in Germany there was a 1% increase for males and no change for females, in Israel the rate increased by 3%, 4% for males and 2% for females , in Austria, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom it increased by 6-9%, and in the Czech Republic, Spain and the USA it increased by 12-15%. In most countries, the rate decreased for many causes of death, including cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease , sepsis and kidney diseases and rose in 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-December 2020.
International comparison for 2019: Israel is ranked sixth lowest in the age-standardized death rate, 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 is ranked lower than Canada, the USA and most Western European countries in the age-adjusted 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. Blood, kidney disease, diabetes, pneumonia and flu 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.
