Births down, deaths up in Estonia last year
According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, there were 13,127 births and 15,721 deaths registered in Estonia last year, a natural decrease of 2,594.
6,702 boys and 6,452 girls were born last year. There were 224 pairs of twins also registered, with 65 pairs of boys, 78 pairs of girls and the remaining 81 were boy-girl twins. There were also three sets of triplets born in Estonia last year.
According to preliminary data, the birth rate of fourth children increased significantly, although a measurable increase was spotted in the second half of 2019.
"The increase in the number of born fourth children in 2020 is good news against the expected decrease of number of births. It compensates for the expected decrease of births in proportion with the decrease in the number of women of childbearing age," said Minister of Population Riina Solman (Isamaa).
The numbers of births by region for 2020 are as follows: 4,573 in Tallinn, 1,891 in the rest of Harju County, 1,846 in Tartu County, 869 in Ida-Viru County, 805 in Pärnu County, 572 in Lääne-Viru County, 431 in Viljandi County, 314 in Saare County, 310 in Rapla County, 288 in Järva County, 285 in Võru County, 258 in Valga County, 223 in Jõgeva County, 204 in Põlva County, 199 in Lääne County and 59 in Hiiu County.
The most popular boys' names last year were Robin, Rasmus, Jakob, Oliver, Sebastian, Hugo, Aron, Artur, Robert, Lukas, Mark and Oskar. The most popular girls' names were Sofia, Mia, Saara, Emma, Marta, Emily, Alisa, Eva, Lenna and Maria.
5,629 marriages were registered in 2020, 407 of those by clergy. There were 2,472 divorces. New names were given to 1,519 persons, with 335 of them first names, 1,047 last names and 137 people changed their entire name.
Mortality rate increased during coronavirus waves
Last year, there were 15,721 deaths registered in Estonia, up 335 from 2019. The number of deaths in 2020, when compared to 2019, increased during the waves of the coronavirus' extensive spread - March-April and November-December. At the same time, there were months in 2020 when the mortality was less than that of 2019.
See below a graph compiled by ERR compare the mortality rates of 2019 and 2020.
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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste
