Germany sees first decline in death rates since 2016

Last year, slightly more than one million people died in Germany, marking a significant decline in death rates after years of increase. While COVID-19’s impact as a cause of death has decreased, other illnesses have caused more fatalities.

In 2023, a total of 1.03 million people died in Germany, marking the first decline in death rates since 2016, the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden reported on Monday, August 19. In comparison, 1.07 million people died in 2022.

Over half of the deceased women and nearly one-third of the deceased men were aged 85 years or older at the time of death. As in previous years, cardiovascular diseases remained the leading cause of death, accounting for approximately 33.9 percent of all fatalities, followed by cancer, which was responsible for 22.4 percent of deaths.

COVID-19 was listed as the underlying cause of death in approximately 25,800 cases, accounting for 2.5 percent of all deaths in 2023. This represents a decrease of 50.8 percent compared to the previous year. However, the number of deaths due to influenza or pneumonia increased. These fatalities rose to nearly 20,900, an increase of 13.1 percent compared to 2022.

Additionally, 4.8 percent of all deaths were attributed to unnatural causes, such as injuries or poisoning. Suicide accounted for one percent of the total deaths.

According to the data, 10,300 people died by suicide in 2023, an increase of 1.8 percent compared to the previous year but 3.1 percent lower than the average of the past ten years. The distribution between men (73 percent) and women (27 percent) remained relatively stable. Notably, the rise in suicides in 2023 was primarily due to an increase among women (eight percent), while there was a slight decrease among men (0.3 percent). Suicides accounted for one percent of the overall causes of death, consistent with previous years.