Published June 10, 2021 at 2:51 pm
Domestic. The corona epidemic contributed to just over 7,000 more people dying in Sweden last year compared with the years 2015–2019. The disease hit extra hard on certain immigrant groups, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare's cause of death statistics for 2020.
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Sweden had a clear excess mortality rate in 2020. A total of 98,229 people died, which can be compared with an average of 91,070 between 2015 and 2019.
An important explanation was covid-19 which was the third most common cause of death with 9,441 deaths.
The National Board of Health and Welfare's figures also show that country of birth was important. Mortality in covid-19 was disproportionately high in people born in Turkey, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Greece and Chile.
Of the dead men born in Somalia, for example, over 50 percent died covid-19, while the corresponding proportion among men born in Sweden was about 10 percent. A general pattern is that among the groups with high mortality in covid-19, a very large proportion of deaths occurred during the first wave.
Approximately 60 percent of the deaths in covid-19 occurred during the first half of the year and the remaining 40 during the second half. Old age was the biggest risk factor. Nine out of ten people who died from the disease were over 70 years old. Seven people were aged 0-19, of which five were under the age of 18.
Suicides decreased
Despite fears that the pandemic would contribute to an increased risk of suicide, the National Board of Health and Welfare shows figures that the number of suicides decreased to 1,168 in 2020, from 1,269 the previous year.