Between March 2nd, when the first cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in Portugal, and September 20th, there were 64,105 deaths in the national territory, an increase of 7,144 deaths in 2020 when compared to the average number of deaths during the same period over the past five years. 1,920 of these deaths, a little over ¼ of the total, were due to COVID-19. In the last 4 weeks (August 24th to September 20th) there were 1,015 more deaths then the average from the same period between 2015-2019. In that period there were 119 registered deaths from COVID-19.
Of the total deaths recorded between March 2nd and September 20th, 31,568 were of men and 32,537 were of women, an increase of 2,970 and 4,174 deaths, respectively, compared to the average of deaths observed in the same period between 2015-2019.
More than 70% of deaths were of people aged 75 years or over. Compared to the average number of deaths observed in the same 2015-2019 period, another 6,218 people aged 75 and over died, of which 4,865 were aged 85 and over.
The largest increase in the number of deaths in relation to the 2015-2019 average was registered in the Norte region, with the exception of the last week of June and the first of July, when this increase was higher in the Área Metropolitana de Lisboa region. In week 38 the Área Metropolitana de Lisboa was once again the region with the highest contribution to the overall number of deaths.
Of the total deaths recorded between March 2nd and September 20th 2020, 38,060 occurred in a hospital and 26,045 outside a hospital, corresponding to an increase of 2,758 deaths and 5,561 deaths, respectively, when compared to the average number of deaths in the same 2015-2019 period.

Despite the circumstances determined by the COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Portugal asks for the best collaboration from companies, families and public entities in responding to Statistics Portugal’s requests. The quality of official statistics, particularly its ability to identify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, depends crucially on this collaboration that Statistics Portugal thanks in advance.