By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
More than 1,300 people have died in Nottinghamshire county alone from causes related to the pandemic, new figures suggest.
Statistics on death and birth registrations also show a fall in the number of births registered – although this drop is partly due to administrative changes and delays.
Figures from Nottinghamshire County Council reveal the number of deaths during the pandemic rose 20 per cent compared to previous years.
The average annual deaths figure for the four years leading up to the pandemic was 6,356.
But in the financial year from April 1 2020 to March 31 2021, Nottinghamshire County Council registered a total of 7,662 deaths, which is almost 20 per cent (1,306) more than the average figure.
The extra deaths are not necessarily all directly related to the virus, but the difference in the two numbers gives an overview of the full cost of the pandemic in the county to date.
The figures do not include Nottinghamshire residents who died outside the county, including those who died in hospitals in the Nottingham City and South Yorkshire areas.
The number of births in the county also dropped during the pandemic – but this is partly down to the government temporarily suspending birth registrations in 2020-21.
The average annual number of births registered in Nottinghamshire in the four years prior to the pandemic was 8,944.
In 2020-21, there were 5,260 registered births – this includes children born in both the county and some who were born in Nottingham city, depending on where parents chose to register them.
The figures show the number of births has continuously dropped in recent years, with 9,013 registered in 2016-17.
The Office for National Statistics said deaths exceeded births in the UK for the first time in 44 years in 2020.
In the calendar year of 2020, there were 90,173 deaths registered involving coronavirus (Covid-19) across the UK, and the number of births decreased to 683,191.
They said: “More recent waves of Covid-19 have also affected population change in the early part of 2021, and the pandemic may continue to have an impact on the remainder of 2021 and beyond.
“These impacts could be driven by further deaths involving Covid-19, longer-term residual impacts of the pandemic on public health and the resulting mortality outcomes, and the effect of lockdowns and wider uncertainty on family planning and fertility.
“These factors, along with long-term demographic trends, such as falling fertility, will determine the level of natural change in the UK population in the future. Accordingly, there is ongoing interest in ascertaining the most up-to-date picture of trends in births and deaths across the UK and its four constituent countries.”
