Mortality

from: Le Monde, January 15, 2013.
by Gaëlle Dupont
translation: Doxa-louise

A SPIKE IN MORTALITY SLOWS DOWN FRENCH DEMOGRAPHY

FOR 2012.

The population of France continues to grow, but less quicly in 2012 than

in previous years, according to the demographic balance sheet offered by the

Institut national de la statistique et des études démographiques (INSEE), which

now publishes an annual update to Census figures.

The reason, a particularly high mortality in 2012 (571,000 deaths not considering Mayotte, as

opposed to 545,000 in 2011), with concentration in the first months of the year. This

number is higher than that of 2003 (562,000 deaths), the year of the heat wave. This

time, a particularly rigorous winter is being blamed.

"During the first two weeks of February 2012, France experienced an exceptional cold

spell (fourth coldest February since 1950), a flu epidemic that peaked in Febrary and

continued into March, and other epidemics, respiratory and gastro-intestinal,  write stastiticians.

 Not only did these epidemics affect mortality, they might well have

caused vulnerability in already fragile individuals and thus prolong overmortality

to subsequent months."

The result, in 2012, the French population goes up by 0,47% (300,000 individuals),

the weakest rate in ten years. It rises to 65,8 million including

Mayotte, of whom 63,7 can be found in Metropolitan France. Other logical consequence :

life expextancy goe down for women (84,8 years, thus -0,2 year) and stagnates for men (78,4).


"A CLIMATIC AND EPIDEMiOLOGICAL CONTEXT"

"These numbers do not show a trend but are the fact of a climatic and epideminological

context, offers Pascale Breuil, Chief of demographic and social studies at INSEE.  After the peak in

the beginning year, mortality goes back to habitual levels.
 
It becomes the work of epidemiologistst to form conclusions, for example with respect to the efficacity

of vaccines."

...