BY MEHMET KAYA
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) started to release the death statistics which stopped during the COVID-19 period. The crude mortality rate per 1,000 people, which stood at 5.3 in 2019, rose to 6.1 in the pandemic year of 2020 and increased to 6.7 in 2021, according to TurkStat. The figure hovered around 5.2-5.3 between 20152019. Deaths caused by COVID-19 took actual effect in 2021. The rate of COVID-19 deaths surged from 4.4% to 11.5% in 2021, as compared to 2020. A partial decline was seen in other causes of death as the crude mortality rate and the number base increased in 2021. The number of people who died due to the COVID-19 reached 22,136 in 2020 and 65,198 in 2021. The highest number of deaths caused by COVID-19 was observed in the 65-74 age group in 2020 and in the 75-84 age group in 2021. Males and females, who died from COVID-19 amounted to 13,699 and 8,437, respectively in 2020, and totaled 35,693 and 29,505, respectively in 2021. The death toll totaled 436,000 in 2019, 507,938 in 2020, and 565,594 in 2021. The annual hike in the number of deaths, which stood at 1.7% on a 10-year average before the pandemic, hit 16.5% in 2020 and 11.4% in 2021.
