More people die from respiratory diseases
Respiratory diseases have drastically increased as a cause of death in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2022, almost 16,000 people died from such diseases - a good 22% more than in the previous year, according to the state statistics office IT.NRW on Thursday. However, the number of deaths due to mental and behavioral disorders also rose by an above-average 17% compared to 2021 to 16,000. These deaths were mainly due to dementia.
Around half of those who died from respiratory diseases were diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Just under a quarter died from pneumonia. Corona was identified as the cause of death in 11,000 deaths - 5 percent of deaths. This means that the number of deaths from Covid-19 was 10 percent lower than in the previous year.
The number one cause of death was again diseases of the circulatory system, with 67,000 deaths and a 29% share of the total number, followed by cancer (52,000 deaths). In total, around 234,000 people died in NRW in 2022, 6.4% more than in the previous year.
The rising trend in respiratory diseases has led to a significant increase in health-related statistics, with 15,760 more people dying from such diseases in 2022 compared to 2021. Despite the increase, mental and behavioral disorders, predominantly dementia, also contributed to a 17% rise in deaths due to these disorders.
Source: www.dpa.com
