CBS - Statistics Netherlands

05/04/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 05/04/2021 07:02

Nearly 4.4 thousand COVID-19 deaths in January
2020 March 1716 494
2020 April 4867 1505
2020 May 1111 213
2020 June 194 72
2020 July 67 25
2020 August 133 35
2020 September 297 35
2020 October 2042 125
2020 November 3132 86
2020 December 3864 84
2021 January 4304 83
* provisional figures

CBS publishes mortality statistics on a weekly basis. The numbers are based on death records received by CBS on a daily basis from the municipalities. These records do not contain any information about the cause of death. Figures on causes of death are based on the cause-of-death certificates that are completed by an attending medical practitioner. CBS receives these certificates via the municipality where the death occurred. The figures presented today are based on 98.0 percent of all cause-of-death certificates received in 2020 and on 96.1 percent of those in January 2021. For more information: How CBS compiles mortality figures in corona times. The current figures are provisional. CBS will publish a broader overview of the causes of death of all deceased persons in 2020 at a later stage.

Over 2.5 thousand COVID-19 deaths among long-term care users in January

In January 2021, there were 2,535 COVID-19 deaths among people receiving care under the Long-term Care Act (Wlz). This is over 200 more than in December. Fifty-eight percent (14,190) of the 24,484 deaths caused by confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and registered since March were people who had been receiving long-term care, such as in a nursing home.

COVID-19 continued to be one of the main causes of death among long-term care recipients in January, accounting for 36 percent of mortality. This was slightly lower in December, namely 33 percent. Among the rest of the population, the share rose from 16 percent in December to 18 percent in January.

2020 10 0 0
2020 11 1 1
2020 12 11 11
2020 13 28 28
2020 14 45 32
2020 15 52 28
2020 16 49 20
2020 17 42 17
2020 18 32 11
2020 19 26 7
2020 20 17 6
2020 21 14 4
2020 22 10 3
2020 23 7 2
2020 24 4 1
2020 25 3 1
2020 26 2 1
2020 27 2 1
2020 28 2 0
2020 29 1 0
2020 30 1 0
2020 31 1 1
2020 32 2 1
2020 33 3 1
2020 34 3 1
2020 35 2 1
2020 36 2 1
2020 37 2 1
2020 38 5 1
2020 39 8 3
2020 40 10 4
2020 41 14 6
2020 42 20 10
2020 43 25 14
2020 44 32 17
2020 45 36 18
2020 46 30 16
2020 47 27 15
2020 48 27 14
2020 49 25 13
2020 50 28 13
2020 51 35 16
2020 52 40 20
2020 53 39 21
2021 1 38 20
2021 2 37 19
2021 3 38 17
2021 4 32 15
* provisional figures

Downward trend in last weeks of January

During the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of COVID-19 deaths increased steadily, from 139 in week 39 to 1,172 in week 53 (28 December to 3 January 2021 inclusive). In the latter week, 29 percent of the deaths were due to COVID-19. Subsequently, the weekly number of COVID-19 deaths declined, to 806 in the last week of January (22 percent of all deaths that week).

2020 1 0 0
2020 2 3366 0
2020 3 3157 0
2020 4 3046 0
2020 5 3163 0
2020 6 3194 0
2020 7 3199 0
2020 8 2959 0
2020 9 3098 0
2020 10 3101 5
2020 11 3184 35
2020 12 3203 412
2020 13 3208 1251
2020 14 3165 1920
2020 15 3005 1976
2020 16 2842 1465
2020 17 2813 1094
2020 18 2713 666
2020 19 2552 434
2020 20 2495 282
2020 21 2554 217
2020 22 2580 149
2020 23 2576 106
2020 24 2626 66
2020 25 2646 49
2020 26 2627 34
2020 27 2607 32
2020 28 2594 25
2020 29 2520 8
2020 30 2655 18
2020 31 2646 22
2020 32 2612 28
2020 33 3157 52
2020 34 2807 48
2020 35 2702 31
2020 36 2663 27
2020 37 2710 29
2020 38 2654 66
2020 39 2753 139
2020 40 2804 194
2020 41 2751 269
2020 42 2786 434
2020 43 2807 642
2020 44 2827 852
2020 45 2698 891
2020 46 2800 775
2020 47 2665 664
2020 48 2753 648
2020 49 2908 611
2020 50 2914 692
2020 51 2960 936
2020 52 2739 1111
2020 53 2916 1172
2021 1 3019 1127
2021 2 2839 1012
2021 3 2905 962
2021 4 2924 806
* provisional figures

Gradual decline in mortality from other causes of death

The provisional figures from November 2020 through January 2021 show that mortality from several common causes of death is stable. The elevated mortality from respiratory diseases, mental disorders or diseases of the nervous system such as dementia in the winter period, a so-called seasonal peak, is not visible now. To a lesser extent, this also applies to mortality from cardiovascular diseases.

2015 January 4113 4057 2014 1727 676
2015 February 3474 3597 1744 1633 629
2015 March 3877 3804 1767 1508 597
2015 April 3813 3353 1529 1076 577
2015 May 3715 3261 1470 923 569
2015 June 3696 2918 1401 790 571
2015 July 3894 2938 1498 839 587
2015 August 3827 2799 1464 685 595
2015 September 3823 2901 1447 727 572
2015 October 3956 3222 1544 902 650
2015 November 3768 3125 1506 906 603
2015 December 3834 3404 1625 965 627
2016 January 4064 3697 1851 1331 685
2016 February 3780 3413 1753 1350 632
2016 March 4072 3657 1844 1345 712
2016 April 3854 3184 1615 1043 625
2016 May 3893 3246 1677 912 619
2016 June 3768 2900 1507 740 587
2016 July 3841 2954 1594 813 637
2016 August 3792 2818 1587 740 600
2016 September 3972 2821 1551 677 584
2016 October 4059 3238 1616 795 680
2016 November 3919 3203 1731 900 644
2016 December 3962 3516 2023 1338 709
2017 January 4054 4075 2369 2129 773
2017 February 3659 3491 1957 1735 660
2017 March 3945 3419 1768 1209 685
2017 April 3763 3120 1601 905 617
2017 May 3913 3219 1696 966 618
2017 June 3828 2725 1542 824 612
2017 July 3976 2715 1608 731 671
2017 August 3885 2761 1569 698 622
2017 September 3855 2802 1579 763 608
2017 October 3836 3041 1640 910 611
2017 November 3816 3180 1696 942 728
2017 December 4026 3605 2003 1153 766
2018 January 4101 3805 2234 1670 768
2018 February 3721 3601 2149 2059 744
2018 March 4215 3869 2466 2421 757
2018 April 3760 3029 1665 1141 688
2018 May 3855 2975 1572 863 695
2018 June 3778 2733 1537 785 646
2018 July 3837 2833 1771 835 750
2018 August 3881 2746 1848 710 644
2018 September 3710 2652 1658 715 692
2018 October 3990 3016 1660 832 767
2018 November 3900 3090 1645 868 712
2018 December 3909 3446 1785 1145 768
2019 January 4105 3511 2012 1335 780
2019 February 3671 3109 1880 1412 716
2019 March 4091 3423 1940 1428 728
2019 April 3825 3154 1775 1129 702
2019 May 3915 3058 1771 994 674
2019 June 3789 2789 1640 838 683
2019 July 4021 3080 1736 779 735
2019 August 3959 2697 1748 800 686
2019 September 3711 2728 1650 690 682
2019 October 3906 3256 1701 960 745
2019 November 3990 3337 1867 1000 717
2019 December 4007 3399 1831 1259 826
2020* January 4129 3584 1932 1362 803
2020* February 3818 3267 1739 1236 742
2020* March 4116 3404 2005 1367 783 2210
2020* April 3859 2994 1858 948 767 6372
2020* May 3693 2823 1469 669 712 1324
2020* June 3833 2783 1381 622 707 266
2020* July 4021 2694 1540 664 709 92
2020* August 4005 2856 1789 809 792 168
2020* September 3802 2759 1578 640 739 332
2020* October 3990 3176 1623 728 723 2167
2020* November 3782 2956 1517 669 717 3218
2020* December 3951 3263 1614 791 845 3948
2021* January 3869 3176 1612 804 793 4387
* provisional figures

Data sources for CBS and RIVM

During the second pandemic wave (week 39 of 2020 through week 4 of 2021, 21 September 2020 to 31 January 2021 inclusive), the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reported 7,957 COVID-19 deaths based on data received from the municipal health services (GGD). In the same period, CBS registered 13,538 confirmed COVID-19 deaths based on cause-of-death certificates. In addition, there were 399 deaths from suspected COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death. Altogether, this is 13,879 COVID-19 deaths.

There are several explanations for the discrepancies between CBS and RIVM figures. Firstly, there may have been cause-of-death forms carrying the indication COVID-19 as the cause of death based on the clinical picture, but not confirmed by laboratory testing. These deaths are not included in the RIVM figures. Secondly, deaths which were confirmed cases of COVID-19 and tested positive in the laboratory may not have been reported as such to the municipal health services (GGD) (partially because there is no reporting obligation for COVID-19 deaths), which also means they are not included in the RIVM figures. Furthermore, reported mortality figures over previous periods are still subject to revision, due to more data on COVID-19 deaths over earlier periods that are received by RIVM at a later stage. CBS will update the figures on causes of death when these data have also been processed.