900 more people died in first quarter of 2021 than last year
Fifteen fewer children were born and 921 more people died In the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same time period in 2020, data published by Statistics Estonia shows.
13,127 births were registered in Estonia last year, 3,185 of them were registered in the first quarter. This year, in the first three months, 3,170 children have been born.
In January, the birth rate decreased the most compared to the previous year. "Starting from February, the birthrate started to increase and the 1,230 births registered in March was the highest number of births during the last years," analytic of the Statistics Estonia, Koit Meres, said.
According to the preliminary data, 1,617 people died in January, 1,464 in February and 1,819 in March. In the first quarter, 4,954 deaths were registered.
"Compared to last year, the number of deaths increased in January, February and March, which indicates the effect of the coronavirus. In January and February, there have been similar numbers in the past years, in March, however, the number was record high," Meres said.
295 marriages were concluded in the first quarter and 75 fewer divorces were formalized than a year before. In the three months of 2020, 1,092 couples married, this year, it was only 797.
"The small number of marriages is nothing extraordinary, for example, in the first quarter of 2018, there were even fewer marriages," Meres said.
"It also has to be taken into consideration that in February of 2020, there were quite a few magical dates which could be seen from the number of marriages. Thus, it seems that people found a way to get married despite the restrictions and don't want to postpone the important event."
632 divorces were registered in the first quarter of the year. "The statistics of last years show a downward trend. There's a possibility that the restrictions have a role to play in the decrease of the divorces," Meres added.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino