More people died in Singapore last year; figure expected given Covid-19 pandemic: MOH
The number of deaths in Singapore last year was comparable to that of 2017, and higher than the figures in the intervening years.
"The increase is not unexpected, given that the Covid-19 pandemic has been a health crisis which has killed many millions of people in the world," said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a statement on Thursday (March 24).
The age-standardised rate - which evens out age differences in the population when comparing over different periods - was 557 per 100,000 persons last year, compared with 560 in 2017.
However, in 2020, the figure was 518, even though that, too, was a pandemic year.
The crude death rate per 100,000 population rose sharply from 504 in 2019, the year before the pandemic started, to 582 last year.
MOH said the total number of excess deaths caused by Covid-19 requires further analysis. It plans to consolidate the data and provide a fuller report after the Omicron wave subsides.
However, MOH pointed out that Singapore has one of the lowest rates of excess deaths from the pandemic, based on international comparison.
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