Covid-19 was listed as the leading cause of death in Brussels for 2021, according to Belgium’s national statistical office, Statbel.
At the national level, the virus was the third leading cause of death, following tumours and circulatory system diseases. Together, these three groups accounted for more than half of the deaths (56.7%).
Around 27,205 people (24.2%) succumbed to a tumour (malignant, benign, or of uncertain malignancy) in 2021, a figure closely mirroring the 27,209 from the previous year.
Circulatory system diseases caused the death of 26,450 Belgians (23.6% overall) — a number not markedly different from 2020’s figures (26,289 deaths, +0.6%).
The Covid-19 pandemic caused the death of 10,046 people in Belgium in 2021, making up 9% of the total. However, deaths from the disease saw a significant decrease with half the number of people (-54.4%) dying from it compared to the 22,012 in 2020.
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In the Brussels-Capital Region, Covid-19 was the principal cause of death (2,512, a rate of 22.9%), followed by tumours (1,976, 18.0%), and circulatory system diseases (1,922, 17.5%).
However, in the Flemish and Walloon Regions, national trends were observed. In the north, deaths due to tumours (16,133, 22.7%) outnumbered those from circulatory diseases (15,481, 21.8%) and Covid-19 (10,842, 15.3%).
In the southern region, deaths linked to tumours (9,100, 20.2%) also outpaced those from circulatory diseases (8,886, 19.8%) and from Covid-19 (8,658, 19.3%).
