Day of the Dead

Natural increase in 2020 the lowest since 1945

In 2020, 24,016 people died in Slovenia: 11,733 men and 12,283 women. Compared to 2019, the number of deaths was by 3,428 (16.7%) higher.

In Slovenia, natural increase has been negative every year from 2017 onwards, as more people die each year than are born. The COVID-19 epidemic and high mortality in 2020, especially in November and December, contributed to greater natural decrease: in 2020, it was −5,249 people or −2.5 per 1,000 population. This is the lowest value of natural increase in Slovenia after 1945.


Mean age at death is increasing

In 1954, the mean age at death in Slovenia was 57.2 years and since then it has risen by 22 years (in 2020). The mean age at death in 2020 was 79.2 years and was by 1.1 years higher than the mean age at death in 2019. In the last 47 years, this was the highest increase in the mean age at death between two consecutive years.

On average, men die earlier than women do. In 2020, the mean age of men at death was 75.3 years and of women 82.9 years. Since 1954, the mean age at death for men in Slovenia has increased by 21 years and for women by 23 years.


Life expectancy at birth is increasing

As the mean age at death increases, so does life expectancy. A boy born in Slovenia in 2020 can expect to live 77.8 years or 5.6 years less than a girl born in the same year, who can expected to live 83.4 years.

 

Life expectancy has risen by 8.4 years for men and by 6.2 years for women over the last three decades. In 2020, life expectancy at birth of men, compared to 2019, decreased by 0.7 years and for women by 0.8 years.

 

Higher mortality in the last quarter of 2020

Last year was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant effect on mortality. The first wave was already in the spring of 2020, but the obvious impact on mortality in Slovenia appeared in the second half of the year (in the last quarter of 2020). Excess mortality (i.e. excess number of deaths compared to the average number of deaths in the same periods in the past) was 18.8% in 2020. This means that 18.8% or 3,795 more people died than the average in the 2015–2019 period.

Sixty-six people died per day on average in 2020 or on average 10 more than in 2015–2019. The excess number of deaths is also reflected in the fact that between 2000 and 2019 there was only one day in which 100 or more people died. In 2020, there were 38 such days, all of which were in November or December. The day with the highest number of deaths in 2020 was 6 December (130). The week with the highest number of deaths in 2020 was the first week in December (30 November to 6 December). In that week 801 people died.