July registers more deaths in 2020 than the previous year; other months still register fewer deaths

The preliminary number of registered deaths from January to August 2020 reached 371,880, lower than the total registered deaths of 408,788 in the same period in 2019. While registered monthly deaths in 2020 were lower than their respective months in the previous year, July already recorded 50,445 deaths this year, higher than the 49,505 deaths in 2019.

From the total registered first semester deaths released last 29 July 2020, additional 24,759 deaths on the same period were registered as of 30 September. (Figure 1, and Table 1)

Late registered deaths remain highest in March and April 2020¹

Relative to their corresponding months in 2019, the increase in late registrations, or those whose deaths were registered beyond 30 days after the occurrence, remained highest for March and April 2020 deaths. Late registrations for March 2020 deaths, numbering at 5,714, is already more than fivefold of the 1,066 March 2019 late registrations. Meanwhile, the April 2020 late registration of 5,108 was more than four times of the recorded 1,250 in April 2019.

In terms of share of late registered deaths since January, about 40.1 percent were March deaths while 35.9 percent were April deaths, majority of which were registered in June. (Tables 1 and 3)

Most months register higher deaths than their corresponding monthly average in the last five years²

The number of registered deaths from January to July 2020 already exceeded their corresponding monthly averages in the last five years, except for March and April. On the other hand, the relatively fewer registered deaths in August 2020 were expected since not all deaths were registered yet as per reglementary period. (Figure 2 and Table 2)

Deaths in the National Capital Region (NCR) from January to August 2020

NCR records more deaths in 2020 than in 2019

NCR registered 54,748 deaths from January to August 2020, or a 5.5 percent increase from the 51,871 deaths registered in the same period in 2019. Increases were recorded in 15 out of 17 of its cities/municipalities, with highest increase in the City of Las Piñas at 13.5 percent.

Meanwhile, declines in the registered deaths during the period were recorded in the City of Mandaluyong (-12.4%) and City of Navotas(-4.1%). (Figure 3 and Table 4)

The same cities register the most deaths in 2019 and 2020

Quezon City registered the highest number of deaths in the NCR from January to August 2020 at 11,598 or 21.2 percent of the total registered deaths in the region. The city similarly had the highest share in 2019, with 11,446 or 22.1 percent of the total deaths during the same period. Meanwhile, the City of Manila recorded the second highest with 8,723 registered deaths (15.9%) while the City of Caloocan came in third with 6,600 (12.1%) of the total registered deaths in NCR, maintaining their respective ranks in 2019. These three cities comprised nearly half of the total registered deaths in 2019 (49.4%) and 2020 (49.2%).

On the other hand, Pateros still had the lowest number of deaths registered in NCR, with 295 deaths or 0.5 percent of the total registered deaths during the period. (Table 4)

¹ This high number of late registrations may be due to the quarantine measures implemented during these months.
² In the first report, only the registered January deaths, at 53,078, exceeded its past five years monthly average (Press Release No. 2020-165 dated 29 July 2020).

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General