Kerala’s all-cause deaths rose sharply in 2021, says report

In 2021, the highest number of deaths was registered in the month of September with 34,646 (10.20 per cent) of the total deaths in the state. It was followed by the months of October (9.70 per cent), June (9.40 per cent), and July (9.08 per cent). The month of April had the least number of deaths registered (6.30 per cent).

The rural/urban classification reveals that out of the total deaths registered during the year 2021, the rural area represents 62.51per cent and that of the urban area is 37.49 per cent.

Although the pandemic is believed to have contributed to the surge in deaths in 2021, Covid-19 had not officially figured in the list of top 10 leading causes of death in the vital statistics report for that year. Overall, the leading cause of death is heart attacks, followed by asthma and cancer. Out of 3,39,648 deaths registered, the deaths due to heart attacks constituted 21.39 per cent, followed by asthma (7.48 per cent), cancer (6.47 per cent), paralysis (2.01 per cent), kidney trouble (1.92 per cent) and suicide (1.87 per cent). In the previous years also, these diseases were the leading causes of deaths.

On the other hand, the number of births registered during 2021 fell to 4,19,767 as against 4,46,891 in 2020 in Kerala where the birth rate has been on a declining trend over the years.

The Crude Birth Rate (CBR) at the state level in 2021 is 11.94 against 12.77 in 2020. There is a marginal decrease in the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 1.46 in 2021 from 1.56 in 2020, according to the report. The maximum Crude Birth Rate (CBR) has been reported in Malappuram district (18.44) and the minimum in the Alappuzha district (8.00).