A total of 57,023 people died in Croatia last year, which is 5,229 more people than in 2019, the HZJZ said.
The most frequent cause of death in 2020 were diseases of the circulatory system, with 22,817 deaths, followed by cancer, which caused 13,508 deaths.
Diseases of the endocrine system caused 4,735 deaths while COVID-19 caused 4,478 fatalities. The fifth most frequent cause of death were injuries and poisoning and other less frequent causes.
Broken down by sex, compared to 2019 the first three causes of death in men changed, with COVID-19 being the second most frequent cause of death. Ischemic heart disease was the leading cause of death in men, while cerebrovascular diseases were the third most frequent cause, followed by diabetes, throat and lung cancer, hypertension, colon cancer, bronchitis, emphysema and asthma, and prostate cancer.
COVID-19 was the fifth most frequent cause of death in women in 2020. The leading cause of death in women was ischemic heart disease, followed by hypertension, cerebrovascular disease and diabetes. The sixth leading cause of death was atherosclerosis, followed by throat, lung and colon cancer. Breast cancer was the ninth most frequent cause of death in women.
In 2020, two women died from complications during pregnancy, childbirth or post-partum period.
