Covid was third most common cause of death in 2020
Staff at the Geneva University Hospitals pay tribute to the victims of Covid-19 with candles and flowers during a minute of silence in March 2021
Keystone / Martial Trezzini
Covid-19 was the main cause of 12.2% of deaths in Switzerland in 2020, behind cardiovascular diseases (26.9%) and cancer (22.2%).
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Covid foi a terceira causa de morte mais comum em 2020
While there are usually around 70,000 deaths in Switzerland in a normal year, in 2020 there were 76,195 deaths, 12.4% more than in the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office reported on MondayExternal link. This increase was due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it said.
Of the Covid-19 deaths, 52.7% were men and 47.3% were women. However, the office said a final assessment of the pandemic could only be made once it is over and the causes of death for all affected years are available.
A total of 8,739 more people than expected (46.9%) died aged 65 and over; 301 more people than expected (11.7%) died aged under 65.
The mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases has decreased significantly in Switzerland over the past ten years. Between 2010 and 2019 it fell by 41.3% for men and by 32.7% for women. In 2020, however, it increased by 2.3% for men and 0.1% for women compared with the previous year.
Fewer people have also died of cancer in the past ten years. Between 2010 and 2019 the death rate for men decreased by 23.2% and for women by 11.6%. In 2020 there was a year-on-year decrease of over 3% for both men and women.
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The death rate due to external causes such as accidents and violence has decreased by 19.1% for men and 11.5% for women over the past decade.
The suicide rate has decreased slightly over the past ten years, according to the statistical office. In 2020, 696 men and 276 women took their own lives in Switzerland. For men, this was a drop of 6.2% compared with the previous year; for women the figure remained exactly the same.
According to the FSO, the first results on the causes of death in 2021 will be published in October.
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