Mortallity and causes of death in South Africa, published by Statistics South Africa May 2006

Reported deaths from all causes, 1997 to 2004

Year of death

Age (years)

Total

0-9

10-24

25-49

50+

Unspecified

1997

35,441

22,636

92,796

160,058

5,574

316,505

1998

41,172

25,799

114,215

178,763

5,104

365,053

1999

41,834

27,686

129,881

178,877

2,704

380,982

2000

42,802

29,463

150,149

189,118

2,204

413,736

2001

44,876

31,408

172,963

201,738

1,911

452,896

2002

50,741

34,381

200,844

211,504

2,024

499,494

2003

56,593

37,363

228,819

227,280

2,770

552,825

2004

62,212

38,054

242,066

222,231

2,925

567,488

Increase 1997-2004

76%

68%

161%

39%

-52%

79%

The influence of population growth can be removed by looking at death rates per 100,000 people, which are provided by Statistics South Africa in another report called "Adult mortality (age 15-64) based on death notification data in South Africa: 1997-2004". These data show that between 1997 and 2004, the death rate among men aged 30-39 more than doubled, while that among women aged 25-34 more than quadrupled. The changes are even more pronounced when deaths from natural causes only are examined. Over the same period there was relatively little change in the death rates among people aged over 55 and those aged 15-20. In their report, Statistics South Africa call such developments "astounding", "alarming" and "disturbing".

Source:http://www.avert.org/safricastats.htm 13.06.2007