2024-08-19 19:25:33
The number of deaths in Germany is falling for the first time in years, with fewer people dying of heart attacks. But another disease is claiming more lives.
Cardiovascular diseases were once again the most common cause of death in Germany last year. A third (33.9 percent) of all deaths were due to a heart attack, stroke or a similar illness, according to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. At 22.4 percent, more than a fifth of those who died succumbed to cancer.
However, the statistics show a decline in both causes of death compared to the previous year: 2.7 percent fewer people died from cardiovascular diseases and 0.5 percent fewer from cancer.
For the first time since 2016, the total number of deaths also fell: from 1.07 million deaths in 2022 by 3.6 percent to 1.03 million people in 2023. More than half of the women who died and almost a third of the men who died were 85 years of age or older.
More people died from flu or pneumonia: the number of cases rose by 13.1 percent to just under 20,900, after having already increased by 30 percent in the previous year.
During the corona pandemic, the numbers in this area had fallen sharply – as the precautionary measures also prevented further infections. In 2023, flu and pneumonia will now account for 2.0 percent of all causes of death, a level that is roughly equivalent to that before the corona pandemic, the Federal Office explained.
Last year, Covid-19 was listed as the underlying cause of death in 25,768 cases. That was 2.5 percent of all cases and a decrease of 50.8 percent compared to the previous year.
Last year, 49,400 people died from unnatural causes such as injury or poisoning. Around 20,800 died from falls.
10,300 people ended their lives by suicide, the number of cases increased by 1.8 percent compared to the previous year. According to the Federal Office, this increase is mainly due to an increase in suicides among women (plus eight percent), while the number for men fell slightly (minus 0.3 percent). As in previous years, suicides accounted for 1.0 percent of the overall causes of death.