Covid among the three most common causes of death in Switzerland in 2020
In a typical year, there are around 70,000 deaths in Switzerland. In 2020 there were 76,195 deaths, 12.4% more than the year before. According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), which released mortality data this week, the rise in deaths was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The two most common causes of death in Switzerland in 2020 were non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular diseases (26.9%) and cancer (22.2%). In third place among the deaths caused was the SARS-CoV-2 virus (12.2%).
The first COVID-19 death of a 72-year-old woman on March 5, 2020 was reported to the FSO in the canton of Vaud. During the first Covid-19 wave in March and April 2020 and the 2020 portion of the second wave from October 2020 to January 2021, 9,294 died from the virus. 8,982 of those deaths were among those over 65 and 312 among those under 65. Recorded Covid-19 deaths in 2020 account for 68% of the officially confirmed fatalities 13,617.
Switzerland has lost fewer people per capita to Covid-19 than the rest of the world. According to that Economist Covid-19 Excess Death Tracker, Switzerland has lost 0.19% of its population to the disease. Some nations like Bulgaria (1.04%), Serbia (0.89%) and Russia (0.85%) have lost almost 1% of their population. Italy (0.37%), the US (0.36%), the UK (0.25%) and Austria (0.24%) have all lost a higher percentage of their population to the virus than Switzerland. However, Germany (0.18%) and France (0.17%) lost smaller percentages.
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