Day of the Dead

After 2017 when Slovenia recorded the second highest number of deaths after World War II (20,509) the number exceeded 20,000 also in 2018. In 2018, 20,485 persons died (10,113 men and 10,372 women). More people died than were born. For the second time after eleven years of natural increase, more people died than were born. Natural decrease was a consequence of a higher mortality rate of persons in winter months.


Day and month with most deaths
Last year on average 56 persons died per day. March was the month with the most deaths; 2,047 persons died and it was the only month in the year in which more than 2,000 deaths were recorded. The day with the most deaths in 2018 was 27 February. On that day 82 persons died.

More than half of the people who died in 2018 died in health institutions (51.6%); 42% of people died at home and 6.4% of people died elsewhere.


Mean age at death is on the rise
The mean age at death in the last 30 years in Slovenia increased by almost nine years (from 69.1 years in 1988 to 77.9 years in 2018).

On average, men die sooner than women, but their mean age at death is rising faster than the mean age of women at death. The mean age of men at death in 2018 was 74.1 years or 9.7 years higher than 30 years ago when it was 64.4 years. The mean age of women at death in 2018 was 81.6 years or 8.6 years higher than 30 years ago when it was 73.0 years.
 
Focusing on the differences in the mean age at death of men and women by statistical regions in 2018, we can see that the mean age at death is the highest in the regions of Western Slovenia and decreases towards the East.




The share of premature mortality is on the decline
The share of premature mortality (deaths recorded before the age of 65) is on the decline. In Slovenia, 3,385 persons died before becoming 65 years of age, which was 16.5% of all deaths in 2018. Thirty years ago nearly one and a half times as many people died before becoming 65 years of age as in 2018 (6,326 persons or 33.1%). The share of premature mortality was higher for men than for women. In 2018, 2,294 men or 22.7% and 1,091 women or 10.5% died before becoming 65 years of age.


70.6% of all deaths due to diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms
Diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms were the most common causes of death for almost 71% of all deaths in 2018. The most common cause of death due to diseases of the circulatory system included heart failure, heart attack and stroke. The most common causes of death due to neoplasms were lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and gastrointestinal cancer (pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer).

 

The most deaths due to diseases of the circulatory system per 1,000 population were recorded in the Pomurska region (5.2 per 1,000 population) and the fewest in the Osrednjeslovenska region (3.0 per 1,000 population). The most deaths due to neoplasms were recorded in the Zasavska region (3.9 per 1,000 population) and the fewest in the Osrednjeslovenska region (2.9 per 1,000 population).


Diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms were the most common causes of death also in the EU-28
Data on the standardised mortality rate (weighted average of age-specific mortality rates) allow a comparison of mortality rates among countries. According to the latest available data for 2016 the most common causes of death in EU-28 Member States were also diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms.

Bulgaria recorded the most deaths due to the diseases of the circulatory system (more than 1,000 persons per 100,000 population), while France recorded the fewest (197 persons per 100,000 population).

Hungary recorded the most deaths due to neoplasms (352 persons per 100,000 population). More than 300 persons per 100,000 population died due to neoplasms also in Croatia, Slovakia, Poland and Slovenia. The fewest persons died due to neoplasms in Cyprus (201 person per 100,000 population).





How long are we projected to live in the future?
Life expectancy is increasing, but the gap in life expectancy of men and women is narrowing. In the last three decades life expectancy increased for men by 9.5 years and for women by 7.3 years.

 

With the same mortality rate, a boy born in Slovenia in 2018 can expect to live 78.3 years. The highest life expectancy can be expected by a boy born in the Koroška region (79.7 years) and the least by a boy born in the Pomurska region (76.2 years). With the same mortality rate, a girl born in 2018 can expect to live 84 years. The highest life expectancy can be expected by a girl born in the Osrednjeslovenska region (84.6 years) and the least by a girl born in the Koroška region (82.3 years).

According to the results of EUROPOP2018 population projections produced by Eurostat for all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, life expectancy for boys born in 2100 is projected to be around 90 years of age and for girls born in 2100 around 93 years of age.