The National Population Commission (NPC) has stated that the total number of deaths in Nigeria stood at 49,917 from January to June 2023 across 28 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The data were collated through NPC’s Rapid SMS scheme
The Rapid SMS is NPC’s innovative way of gathering vital statistics in the country which is needed for planning, preventive, curative and developmental purposes.
“Rapid SMS is an information tracking tool that collects data through ‘SMS’ and is web based. The dashboard is the web platform where all data collected through rapidSMS are stored. It serves as a real – time monitoring tool to enable LGA, State, Federal and other partners to react to vital statistics posted to the dashboard more quickly. The dashboard can be viewed, information exported, displayed and printed if needed,” NPC stated.
The states excluded in the current data presentation by the NPC are Nasarawa in north central, Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa in north east, Zamfara and Kebbi in north west, Cross River and Delta in south-south, and Oyo in south west.
By gender, the deaths reported comprised 17,171 females, representing 34.4 percent, and 32,746 males, representing 65.6 percent.
Based on the causes of death, according to NPC, diseases collectively grouped as “Other Ailments” accounted for the bulk of the deaths in Nigeria within the first six months of 2023.
Across the 28 states and FCT, 36,281 deaths through “Other Ailments” were reported, representing 72.7 percent of the total number of deaths that occurred in Nigeria from January to June 2023.
Deaths through fevers/typhoid ranked second, as 7,400 Nigerians were reported to have died through this cause, amounting to 14.8 percent of the total deaths during the reference period.
The data also showed that 4,041 Nigerians died through accidents/injuries, representing 8.1 percent just as 1,227 Nigerians died through childbirth, amounting to 2.5 percent of the total deaths reported during the period.
The least cause of death was HIV/AIDS that claimed the lives of 968 Nigerians during the period, amounting to just 1.9 percent of the total deaths recorded.
The states that recorded the highest number of male deaths are Ogun, 4,628; Lagos, 4,532; Kaduna, 3,037; Abia, 2,946, and Anambra, 2,327. On the other hand, the states that recorded the highest female deaths are Ogun, 2,583; Lagos, 2,550; Jigawa, 1,607; Abia, 1,527, and Anambra, 1,334.
By causes of death, Borno, 226; Katsina, 217; Jigawa, 182; Abia, 99 and Kano, 75 topped the chart for deaths by childbirth in Nigeria, within the first six months of 2023.
When ranked by death by fevers/typhoid, Jigawa, 1,493; Ogun, 1,140; Katsina, 683; Imo, 545, and Kaduna, 543 have the highest number of deaths through fevers/typhoid.
The states with the highest occurrence of deaths by accidents are Kaduna, 640; Ogun,451; Abia, 339; Jigawa, 313, and Lagos, 256.
Also, the following states topped the death by HIV/AIDS from January to June 2023. They are Kaduna, 390; Borno,105; Katsina, 77; Plateau, 66, and Jigawa, 64.
Lagos State, with 6,667 deaths, topped the chart of deaths by Other Ailments.it was followed by Ogun with 5,547 deaths by the same cause. Abia is third with 3,610 deaths, while Anambra with 3,285 deaths, and Kaduna with 2,171 deaths completed the five states with the highest deaths by Other Ailments.
By geopolitical zones, 17,013 deaths representing 34.1 percent occurred in the south west zone. These deaths comprised 10,991 males and 6,022 females. By causes, the region recorded 14,422 deaths by Other Ailments; 1,535 by fevers/typhoid; 879 deaths by accidents/injures; 143 deaths by childbirth and 34 deaths by HIV/AIDS.
The south east ranked second, with 11,841 deaths comprising 9,579 deaths by Other Ailments; 1,269 deaths by fevers/typhoid; 795 deaths by accidents/injuries; 171 deaths by childbirth, and 27 deaths by HIV/AIDS.
The north west geopolitical zone ranked third with 10,346 deaths, comprising 4, 805 deaths by Other Ailments; 3,118 deaths by fevers/typhoid; 1,373 deaths by accidents/injuries; 560 deaths by HIV/AIDS, and 490 deaths by childbirth.
The north central zone recorded 5,097 deaths representing 10.2 percent of the total deaths during the period, broken down into 3,859 deaths by Other Ailments; 672 deaths by fevers/typhoid; 323 deaths by accidents/injuries; 140 deaths by HIV/AIDS, and 103 deaths by childbirth.
The deaths in the south-south amounted to 7.9 percent of the total deaths recorded in the country within the first six months of 2023 while north east accounted for just 3.3 percent of the total deaths reported.
