3,178 people died in Latvia in December 2020, which is 673 deaths or 26.9 % more than in December 2019.
"The death of a person must be registered within six days, but on weekends and public holidays registration does not take place; therefore, when collecting data by actual date of death, the number of deaths at the end of December 2020 is expected to be higher," the CSB pointed out.
While the early part of 2020 saw deaths at roughly the same rate as the previous year, from June onwards 2020 proved deadlier than 2021.
In the last months of 2020 the number of deaths increased rapidly: in October by 6.4 % more than in September, in November - by 9.0 % more than in October, and in December - by 26.1 % more than in November.
According to preliminary data, the number of deaths in 2020 as a whole was by 937 persons more or 3.4 % higher than in 2019, even with a significant part of the year under physical distancing and other extraordinary conditions. It should be noted the causes of death are not recorded in the data, though it would be surprising if the increasing number of deaths did not correspond with the rapidly rising number of Covid-19 cases in the latter part of the year.
Statistics on demographics in January will be published on 15 March.
