COVID-19 kills over 87,000 people in Türkiye in 2020, 2021

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 was 87,334 in 2020 and 2021 in Türkiye, according to official figures revealed on Thursday.

TurkStat previously postponed the announcement of death figures and now released the two years' data together.

The figures showed that a total of around 1.07 million people died during the two-year period in the country, with circulatory system diseases being the main reason for deaths in both years.

- 2020

In 2020, some 507,938 people died in Türkiye, while 36% of deaths were related to the circulatory system.

The crude death rate -- the number of deaths per thousand persons -- was 6.1 in 2020, up from 5.9 in 2019.

Respiratory system diseases was in second place with 15.8% and neoplasms took third place with 15.7%.

The share of COVID-19 was at 4.4% in 2020 -- a total of 22,136 deaths.

The infant mortality rate was at 8.7 per thousand in 2020 in the country.

"While the under five mortality rate which is the probability of dying during five years after birth was 11.2 per thousand in 2019, it was 10.6 per thousand in 2020," TurkStat noted.

- 2021

Some 565,594 people died in the country in 2021, while the share of deaths related to the circulatory system dropped to 33.4%.

The crude death rate was at 6.7 per thousand in 2021.

Neoplasms took second place in 2021 with 14% and the respiratory system dropped to third place with 13.4%.

The share of COVID-19 increased to 11.5% in 2021, corresponding to 65,198 fatalities in Türkiye.

The infant mortality rate was up to 9.2 per thousand in 2021, while the under-five mortality rate increased to 11.2 per thousand.