Aragon suffered a total of 16,711 deaths throughout 2020, a year marked by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic throughout the planet. Specifically, there are 3,091 more deaths than the previous year, 22.7%, of which some 2,670 were, according to official figures from the Government of Aragon, as a result of the coronavirus. It would be the year with the most deaths in the Community since these records were counted, as published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Likewise, Aragon once again accumulated more deaths than births in 2020, which causes it to obtain a negative vegetative balance for the twelfth consecutive year. Specifically, 9,095 new registrations were registered in the Civil Registry of newborns, 549 less than in 2019, also being the year with the fewest births since 1975. In total, the Community lost 7,616 people, when in the previous year the negative figure was of 3,965. In addition, 20 babies died when they were less than a year old.
By provinces, Zaragoza regretted 11,807 deaths, 2,264 more than in 2019; while in Huesca there were 2,888 (497 more) and Teruel, 2,016 (330 more). In all cases they represent the historical record and in Zaragoza and Teruel it is the first time that 10,000 and 2,000 deaths have been exceeded in one year.
This natural loss of population has been a common trend since 277 inhabitants were gained in 2008. However, if it were suppressed that year, we would have to go back to 1985 to find another twelve months with more births than deaths. At that time, Aragon had 1,201,291 citizens, for the 1,331,280 inhabitants it had on January 1, 2021, the latest known population data, an increase that is due to migration.
In addition, it is the third time in a row that the number of births has dropped below 10,000 since 2000. Similarly, the birth rate increased to 6.83 births per 1,000 inhabitants, three tenths below the national average, located at 7 , 19. In the last ten years, this decline has been constant from 10.23 births in 2008 to 6.79 in 2020.
Likewise, it was also the year with the fewest marriages since these records were had, with 2,285, compared to 3,969 in 2019, almost half.
