In 2022
Diseases of the circulatory system and malignant neoplasms remained the leading causes of death in the Region
The Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM) releases today data on the causes of death in 2022 for the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM), broken down by municipality, age group, and sex.
In 2022, a total of 3 104 deaths of residents in the ARM were recorded, representing an 8.0% increase compared to 2021 (2 875 deaths). Of these, 1 454 were male and 1 650 were female, resulting in a masculinity ratio at death of 88.1 male deaths per 100 female deaths, a figure lower than the national ratio of 98.6. The crude mortality rate in the ARM for the year under review was 12.3‰.
By age group, there were three deaths of children under one year of age, corresponding to an infant mortality rate of 1.7‰. The causes of death in this group included two cases of congenital malformations and one due to "Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases." Among children, there was also one death recorded in the 5–9 age group, attributed to a "Transport accident." In the 20 to 64 age group, 567 deaths were recorded (18.3% of the total), with the leading causes being "Malignant neoplasms" (192 deaths), "Diseases of the circulatory system" (124 deaths), and "External causes of injury and poisoning" (79 deaths). Among those aged 65 to 79, there were 910 deaths (29.3% of the total), with "Malignant neoplasms" remaining the leading cause (258 deaths), followed by "Diseases of the circulatory system" (218 deaths) and "Diseases of the respiratory system" (118 deaths).
At the municipal level, the municipality of Funchal accounted for the highest number of deaths in relative terms, with 1 345 deaths (43.3%), followed by Santa Cruz (396 deaths; 12.8%) and Câmara de Lobos (315 deaths; 10.1%). Together, these three municipalities accounted for 66.2% of all deaths in the ARM. Conversely, the municipalities of Porto Moniz (46 deaths; 1.5%), Porto Santo (62 deaths; 2.0%) and São Vicente (76 deaths; 2.4%) recorded fewer than 100 deaths each in 2022, together representing 5.9% of the total deaths. "Diseases of the circulatory system" were the leading cause of death in all municipalities, except for Câmara de Lobos, Santa Cruz, Santana, and Porto Santo, where "Malignant neoplasms" prevailed.
In 2022, in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, "Diseases of the circulatory system" remained the leading cause of death, with 787 deaths, corresponding to 25.4% of the total. The mortality rate for this cause was 3.1‰, slightly below the national rate of 3.2‰. By municipality, the highest mortality rates for this cause were observed in Porto Moniz (6.0‰), followed by Calheta (5.9‰) and São Vicente (4.3‰). Porto Santo (1.5‰), Santa Cruz (2.0‰), and Câmara de Lobos (2.2‰) reported the lowest mortality rates for circulatory system diseases.
Mortality due to "Malignant neoplasms" was the second most common cause of death in the ARM in 2022, with 657 deaths, accounting for 21.2% of total deaths and corresponding to a mortality rate of 2.6‰—slightly below the national rate of 2.7‰.
The municipalities of Funchal (291 deaths) and Santa Cruz (102 deaths) reported the highest numbers of deaths from this cause. In all other municipalities, the number of deaths remained below 100, with Porto Moniz registering only six deaths. In terms of mortality rates, the municipalities of Santana (4.2‰), Calheta (3.5‰), Machico (2.8‰), Funchal (2.7‰), and São Vicente (2.7‰) exceeded the regional average (2.6‰). The lowest mortality rates were recorded in Ponta do Sol (1.6‰) and Porto Santo (1.9‰).
It is noteworthy that in 2022, mortality from malignant neoplasms exceeded that from circulatory system diseases in the municipalities of Santa Cruz (+15 deaths), Santana (+4), Porto Santo (+2), and Câmara de Lobos (+1), with malignant neoplasms constituting the leading cause of death in Santana.
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