Mortality from COVID-19 in Tatarstan doubles in 1Q

Coronavirus claimed the lives of almost 1,5 thousand Tatarstan citizens in the first three months of 2022

The coronavirus has been affecting mortality in one way or another for more than two years. The Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), publishing data on the deceased, uses two categories: COVID-19 — the main cause of death and “the cause of death is attributed to other important conditions”. Both are divided into two categories.

According to Rosstat, in total, in January-March 2022, coronavirus became the main cause of death of 1,444 Tatarstan citizens. At the same time, only 785 of them were found to have the virus in their body. In the remaining 659, it is assumed to be the main cause of death, but has not been identified.

For comparison: in the first quarter of 2021, coronavirus became the main cause of death of 778 residents of Tatarstan. That is, the number of deaths has almost doubled.

In total, according to Rosstat, 13,017 people died in Tatarstan in January-March 2022. Thus, coronavirus deaths account for only 11% of the total.

The most deaths from coronavirus in Tatarstan were registered in February 2022 — 790. It was identified in 422 of the deceased, and in 368 — it is only implied as the main cause of death. In March, 367 deaths from COVID-19 were recorded, and in January — 287.

The second category in the Rosstat summary is “the cause of death is attributed to other important conditions”. In Tatarstan, 108 deaths were attributed here in the first quarter of 2022. Of these, 19 — in January, 56 — in February, and 33 — in March.

In this category, the subcategory “COVID-19 is not the main cause of death, but had a significant impact on the development of fatal complications of the disease” accounts for 18 deaths in January — March 2022. The remaining 90 belong to the subcategory “COVID-19 is not the main cause of death and did not have a significant impact on the development of fatal complications of the disease”.

Mortality rates in Tatarstan are stable

In general, mortality in Tatarstan in the first quarter of 2022 remained almost at the same level as in January-March last year. The indicator turned out to be lower by an imperceptible 0,01%.

According to Rosstat, 13,017 people died in Tatarstan in the first three months of this year. In January-March 2021, 13,033 deaths were registered.

As for infant mortality, 31 children under the age of one died in Tatarstan in the first three months of this year. Compared to the same period in 2021, there is a positive trend — infant mortality has decreased by 20,5% (in January-March last year, 39 children died in the republic who did not live to one year).

An increase in mortality in the first quarter of 2022 was registered only in one region of the Volga Federal District — Perm Krai. There it has grown by 4,5 percent: in January-March 2021, 10,059 deaths were registered, and in the first three months of 2022 — 10,516.

Mortality in Udmurtia turned out to be at the same level as in the first quarter of 2021. In the neighbouring republic to Tatarstan, in January-March of this year, only two fewer deaths were registered than in the same period last year — 5,331 and 5,333, respectively.

In other regions of the Volga Federal District, mortality has decreased. The most noticeable is in Saratov Oblast: by 7,3%. In January-March 2022, 10,362 people died there, and in the same three months of last year — 11,183.

In other regions of the Volga Federal District , the following dynamics of mortality reduction has been registered:

  • Mordovia — 3,387 deaths (-7,2%);
  • Penza Oblast — 5,743 deaths (-5,3%);
  • Bashkiria — 14,268 deaths (-5,1%);
  • Nizhny Novgorod Oblast— 14,743 deaths (-5%);
  • Orenburg Oblast — 7,490 deaths (-5%);
  • Kirov Oblast — 6,030 deaths (-4,9%);
  • Samara Oblast — 13,225 deaths (-4,7%);
  • Chuvashia — 4,648 deaths (-3,2%);
  • Ulyanovsk Oblast — 5,318 deaths (-2%);
  • Mari El — 2,563 deaths (-0,9%).

In total, 116,641 people died in all 14 regions of the Volga Federal District, including Tatarstan, in January, February and March 2022, which is by 3,4% less than in the same period last year.

In general, in Russia, by the results of the first quarter of 2022, mortality increased minimally — by only 0,2% compared to January-March last year. In the first three months of this year, 584,652 Russians died in the country, which is by 891 more deaths than in the same period of 2021.

Load on Tatarstan registry offices was lower than at the beginning of 2021

In Tatarstan, the number of marriages decreased in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2021. In the first three months of this year, 4,010 couples married, while 4,270 new families appeared in the republic in January-March last year. The number of registered marriages has decreased by 6,1%, according to Rosstat data.

At the same time, in Tatarstan in January-March 2022, divorces were less frequent than at the beginning of the previous year. During this time, the marriage was dissolved by only 3,239 couples, which is by 7,1% less than in the first quarter of 2021, when 3,487 couples divorced.

In general, among the regions of the Volga Federal District, Tatarstan is the second in terms of the number of marriages registered in January-March 2022. Only neighbouring Bashkiria overtook the republic, where 56 more families appeared during this time — 4,066, which is by 1,5% less than in the first quarter of 2021.

In terms of the number of divorces in January-March 2022, Tatarstan is the second only to Bashkiria, in which 3,806 couples divorced during these three months. It is worth noting that the indicator has grown there — 10,4% more unions have officially ceased to exist than in the first quarter of 2021 (3,446 divorces).

An increase in the number of divorces in the Volga Federal District was registered not only in Bashkiria, neighbouring Tatarstan, but also in Perm Krai (+3,7%, 2,520 divorces), and in Chuvashia (+8,2%, 993 divorces). Orenburg Oblast turned out to be the undisputed leader among the 14 regions of the district, where the number of divorces in the first three months of 2022 immediately soared by 16,4% — from 1,818 in January-March last year to 2,127 in the first quarter of this year.

Among the regions of the Volga Federal District, the fewest marriages in the first three months of 2022 were registered in Mordovia — only 530 couples got married there. This is by 17,6% less compared to the same period in 2021, when 643 marriage certificates were issued in the republic.

In total, 27,705 new families appeared in the Volga Federal District in January-March 2022, while 29,222 couples registered marriage in the first quarter of the previous year. Thus, their number has decreased by 5,2%. They divorced 26,461 times in the first three months of 2022, which is by 0,2% more than the same period last year.

In general, in the first quarter of 2022, Russians married more often and divorced less often — 159,271 marriages and 144,605 divorces were registered. However, in comparison with last January-March, residents of the country created 1,3% fewer families and broke down by 1,1% more.

Birth rate in Tatarstan has decreased by 6,3%

In January-March 2022, the birth rate in Tatarstan declined. However, compared to the same period last year, it has decreased slightly. The indicator has fallen by only 6,3%. For example, if 9,502 babies were born in the republic in the first three months of 2021, only 8,905 newborns were registered in the republic in January-March.

By the way, the birth rate in January-March of this year also declined in the regions neighboring with Tatarstan, and in general in the Volga Federal District. According to Rosstat estimates, 59,003 newborns were registered in the Volga Federal District in the first quarter, which is by 6,5%, or 4,114 children, less than in the same period of 2021.

Among the regions of the Volga Federal District, the birth rate has decreased the most in Kirov Oblast — by 12,8%. In the region, 2,233 babies were born in the first three months of 2022, while 2,561 were born in January-March last year.

The smallest decrease among the regions in the Volga Federal District has been demonstrated by Mordovia, despite that there the smallest number of births has been registered in absolute numbers — 1,179. However, this is only by 2,3% less than in January-March 2021.

Throughout Russia, the birth rate in the first quarter of 2022 has fallen by 4,9% — 320,376 babies were born in January, February and March. For comparison: 336,961 newborns were registered in the country in the first three months of 2021.

Tatyana Demina
BashkortostanKirov OblastUdmurtiaTatarstan