Of the 2,239 deaths reported in Catanduanes in 2021, more than half were male, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in its special release on preliminary death statistics.
This is equivalent to a crude death rate of 8.1 or 8 deaths per thousand population in 2021.
According to the report furnished to the Tribune, 1,222 of those who died last year were male, with 61% of them dying before the age of 70.
In contrast, there were only 1017 female deaths in 2021, of which 600 expired past the age of 70.
Almost 50% of the total deaths were aged 70 and above, which is the only age group with female deaths greater than male deaths.
The PSA also noted that the number of deaths of those below 10 years of age was higher than the older age groups of 10-19 and 20-29.
Thirty-eight fetal deaths were recorded in Catanduanes in 2021, which translates to a fetal death ratio of 9.8.
Majority of the neonatal deaths, a high of 71.1%, were from municipality of Virac, with 13.2% from Pandan and 7.9% from San Andres. The towns of Bagamanoc, Baras and Viga each recorded 2.6% of the total fetal deaths. (Figure 4 and Table 3).
In the same year, the island had 56 infant deaths, of which 37 were males and 19 were females, translating to an infant mortality rate of 14.5.
All municipalities except Gigmoto recorded infant deaths, with Virac having the highest number of infant deaths at 16. San Andres had 9 such deaths and Caramoran had 7, while the town of Panganiban had the lowest number with only 1 (Figure 3 and Table 3).
Fifty-five (55) of the total deaths in 2021 were due to the coronavirus disease or COVID-19, with another 14 considered as COVID-19 probable deaths and 15 as COVID-19 suspect deaths.
The highest cause of deaths for males in 2021 was essential (primary) hypertension with 80 deaths, followed by pneumonia (56), acute myocardial infarction (29), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (25) and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (22).
The same cause was blamed for the majority of female deaths with 65, followed by pneumonia (50). hypertensive heart disease (35), acute myocardial infarction (32) and intracerebral hemorrhage (26).
Twenty vehicular accidents were listed as the cause of both male and female deaths, along with 15 homicides, 11 suicides and 17 other causes.