Mortality Rate in Bulgaria: Facts and Fiction

November 2020 is the deadliest month in Bulgaria for at least the last five years. This is according to preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on mortality in the country, published this week. In November, 15,953 people died in Bulgaria, with an average of about 8,300 in the same month over the past 5 years. The increase is over 92%.

The difference of more than 7,600 people includes 2,756 who died of coronavirus in that month (they are calculated according to official data of the Unified Information System). Among other cases (a little under 5,000) again a major role playes the epidemic - specialists, whom "Dnevnik" asked questions about the data share this opinion.

Also in response to a question by "Dnevnik" during the briefing of the health authorities on Thursday (December 10), Health Minister Kostadin Angelov explained that he was familiar with the NSI data and commissioned the National Center for Public Health and Analysis to analyze the increased mortality rate in the third quarter of 2020 compared to last year. However, the sharp increase in mortality coincides with the beginning of the fourth quarter of the year.

The overall mortality rate has started to rise as of the end of June as of the end of 2019. As it rises variably, but for several weeks (after the 40th week - the first of October) there is a sharp increase. "We reach 3 800 cases of the deceased in the country, during the 46th week (the second in November) which is an unprecedented number for the last five years", commented on BNR at the end of November Magdalena Kostova, who heads the "Demographic and Social Statistics" Directorate in NSI.

At the time, the data have not yet been published, but Kostova explained that the better way is to monitor...