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In 2021 the number of deaths in Germany exceeded the million mark (symbol image)
Photo: Michael Reichel / dpa
The number of deaths in Germany rose by 3.9 percent last year.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, a total of around 1.02 million people died in 2021, and in 2020 the office counted around 990,000 dead.
As can be seen from the cause of death statistics published on Friday, the corona virus was the decisive factor in the death of seven percent of all those who died.
This means that a total of 71,331 people died from Covid-19 as an underlying disease in 2021 - 79 percent more than in the previous year.
In 2020, 39,758 corona deaths were counted.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death
Not included in the numbers are cases in which Covid-19 was documented on the death certificate as a concomitant disease, as the statisticians emphasize.
The Federal Statistical Office intends to publish these figures in January 2023.
After the post-mortem examination, the doctor must fill out a death certificate.
In it, personal details, time and place of death are officially documented.
This death certificate contains a confidential part in which the presumed cause of death is entered.
A distinction is made between the underlying disease (the main cause of death), concomitant or secondary diseases and the immediate cause of death.
more on the subject
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As in previous years, the most common cause of death last year was cardiovascular disease.
With 340,619 deaths, a good third of all deaths were due to this.
45,181 people died from myocardial infarction, which belongs to this group of diseases.
As in previous years, the second most common cause of death was cancer: 229,068 people or 22.4 percent of all deaths died of cancer in 2021.
In men, malignant neoplasms of the digestive organs and respiratory organs were the most frequently diagnosed types of cancer.
Women were also most commonly affected by malignant neoplasms of the digestive organs.
However, the most common single diagnosis of cancer in women was breast cancer.
4.2 percent or 43,200 deaths in the past year were due to non-natural causes such as injuries or poisoning.
In 2020 there were slightly fewer cases (41,794).
mar/dpa
