Descriptive Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 and Anti-Pandemic Measures on Mortality Rates in the Spanish Population in 2020 Using Graduation Techniques
23 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2022 Last revised: 10 Jun 2022
Date Written: March 22, 2022
Abstract
In this paper we measure the impact, in relative terms, of Covid-19 pandemic and the actions implemented to deal with it on the Spanish mortality rates during year 2020. This study has been carried out age by age, distinguishing between male and female populations. The methodology we propose consists of directly comparing the mortality rates for the periods 2018-19 and 2020. First, we estimate the crude mortality rates and then proceed to graduate the mortality curves using non-parametric techniques, particularly, cubic spline functions. The comparison of graduated mortality rates allows to measure the impact of Covid-19 on age-specific mortality rates finding that the pandemic and the measures adopted to face it affected different age groups of male and female populations in different ways. The most striking results are the decrease of infant mortality rates in relative terms for men and women. Also, noteworthy is the relative increase in female mortality rates from age 25 to 45 years with a peak around the age of 34. This peak is, surprisingly, as important as the maximum impact of Covid-19 on the older population. It should also be noted that mortality rates increased with age between 60 to 70 with a peak around 80 for men and for women. However, from this maximum, the relative increase in mortality rates stabilizes or decreases slightly with age.
Note:
Funding Information: None to declare.
Conflict of Interests: None to declare.
Keywords: Covid-19 and gender, graduation, mortality rates, splines, age-groups
JEL Classification: C13, C18, C46, C51, C80
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation