Explanatory NoteData on deaths presented in this press release updates the previous release dated 05 March 2021 and obtained from the timely and late registered deaths at the Office of the City/Municipal Registrars throughout the country and submitted to the Office of the Civil Registrar General through the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Provincial Offices (POs) for encoding. Information presented includes the deaths that occurred from January 2019 until December 2020 (cut-off date is as of 31 May 2021 on the submission of encoded data files to the PSA-Central Office from POs). Figures presented herein are still preliminary and may differ in the final counts. Deaths of Filipinos abroad are not yet included in the data, only those who died in the country but whose usual residence is abroad. |
July, August, September, and December register more deaths in 2020 than the previous year; other months still register fewer deaths
The preliminary number of registered deaths from January to December 2020 reached 613,267, lower than the total registered deaths of 620,414 in the same period in 2019. While registered monthly deaths in 2020 were lower than their respective months in the previous year, July at 54,385 (9.9% growth), August at 56,792 (13.0% growth), September at 53,905 (3.6%), and December at 53,606 (3.4% growth), already recorded higher deaths than a year ago. (Figure 1 and Table 1)
Figure 1. Number of Registered Deaths in the Philippines
January 2019 to December 2020(p) (as of 31 May 2021)
Note: The 2019 death statistics is final and differs from the preliminary, as a result of further data processing and verification conducted.
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. Late registrations of deaths which occurred in March 2020, numbering at 6,765, is more than six times of the 1,067 in March 2019 late registrations. Meanwhile, the April 2020 late registration of 6,263 was five times of the recorded 1,249 in April 2019.
In terms of share of late registered deaths since January, about 24.8 percent were March deaths while 23.0 percent were April deaths, majority of which were registered in June. (Tables 1 and 3)
1This high number of late registrations may be due to the quarantine measures implemented during these months.
Most months register higher deaths than their corresponding monthly average in the last five years
Except for March and April, the number of registered deaths from January to December 2020 already exceeded their corresponding monthly averages in the last five years, with biggest increase recorded for August deaths (6,227 increase). The number of registered March and April deaths remain relatively low despite catch up in registration. (Figure 2 and Table 2)
Figure 2. Number Registered Deaths in the Philippines
January to December 2020(p) (as of 31 May 2021)
Note: The 2015-2019 averages differ from previous releases as a result of revisions on the 2019 death statistics.
Deaths in the National Capital Region (NCR) from January to December 2020
NCR records more deaths in 2020 than in 2019
NCR registered 84,331 deaths from January to December 2020, or a 7.3 percent increase from the 78,604 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 San Juan at 18.2 percent.
Meanwhile, declines in the registered deaths during the period were recorded in the City of Navotas (-8.2%) and City of Mandaluyong (-0.7%) . (Figure 3 and Table 4)
Figure 3. Number and Annual Growth of Registered Deaths in the National Capital Region by City/Municipality
January to December, 2019(f)& 2020(p) (as of 31 May 2021)
Note: The 2019 death statistics is final and differs from the preliminary, as a result of further data processing and verification conducted.
The same cities register the most deaths in 2019 and 2020
Quezon City recorded the highest number of registered deaths in the NCR from January to December 2020 at 18,447 or 21.9 percent of the total registered deaths in the region. The city similarly had the highest share in 2019, with 17,320 or 22.0 percent of the total deaths during the same period. Meanwhile, the City of Manila recorded the second highest with 12,807 registered deaths (15.2%) while the City of Caloocan came in third with 10,172 (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 NCR in 2019 (49.5%) and 2020 (49.1%).
On the other hand, Pateros still had the lowest number of deaths registered in NCR with 457 deaths or 0.5 percent of the total registered deaths during the same period. (Table 4)
DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General
Table 1. Number of Registered Deaths by Month of Occurrence and Registration Status, Philippines: 2019(f)-2020(p) (as of 31 May 2021)
Table 2. Average Number of Registered Deaths from 2015 to 2019 and Number of Registered Deaths by Month of Occurrence and Registration Status,
Philippines: 2020(p) (as of 31 May 2021)
Note: The 2015-2019 averages differ from previous releases as a result of revisions on the 2019 death statistics.
Table 3. Late registration in 2019(f) and 2020(p), by month of occurrence
and month and year of registration (as of 31 May 2021)
Table 4. Number of Registered Deaths in NCR by City/Municipality:
January to December, 2019(f) and 2020(p) (as of 31 May 2021)
