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Mortality and Causes of Death 2021-2022

South Africa, 2021 - 2022
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Reference ID
zaf-statssa-mcd-2021-2022-v1
Producer(s)
Statistics South Africa
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Nov 13, 2025
Last modified
Nov 13, 2025
Page views
43
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  • Study Description
  • Data Description
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  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • survey_instrument
  • Data Collection
  • Depositor information
  • Distributor information
  • Data Access
  • Contacts
  • Metadata production
  • Identification

    Survey ID number

    zaf-statssa-mcd-2021-2022-v1

    Title

    Mortality and Causes of Death 2021-2022

    Country
    Name Country code
    South Africa zaf
    Study type

    Mortality and Causes of Death

    Abstract

    This cumulative dataset contains statistics on mortality and causes of death in South Africa covering the period 2021-2022. The mortality and causes of death dataset is part of a regular series published by Stats SA, based on data collected through the civil registration system. The Recorded Deaths 1996 dataset, and the Mortality and Causes of Death 1999-2020 datsets are available separately. The main objective of this dataset is to outline emerging trends and differentials in mortality by selected socio-demographic and geographic characteristics for deaths that occurred in the registered year and over time. Reliable mortality statistics are the cornerstone of national health information systems, and are necessary for population health assessment, health policy and service planning, and programme evaluation. They are essential for studying the occurrence and distribution of health-related events, their determinants and management of related health problems. These data are particularly critical for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063, which share the same goal for a high standard of living and quality of life, sound health and well-being for all and at all ages. Mortality statistics are also required for assessing the impact of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), emerging infectious diseases, injuries and natural disasters.

    Kind of Data

    Administrative records

    Unit of Analysis

    Individuals

    Version

    Version Description

    Version 1: Edited, anonymised data for public distribution

    Version Date

    2025

    Scope

    Notes

    The registration of deaths is governed by the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act No. 51 of 1992 as amended), and is administered by the Department of Home Affairs. After a death is registered, the Department of Home Affairs issues a death certificate and, where applicable, updates the population register. The forms are then collected by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) for processing.

    Topics
    Topic
    Mortality
    Causes of death

    Coverage

    Geographic Coverage

    The data has national coverage

    Universe

    This dataset is based on information on mortality and causes of death from the South African civil registration system. It covers all death notification forms from the Department of Home Affairs for deaths that occurred in 2021-2022 that reached Stats SA during the 2024/2025 processing phase

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name Affiliation
    Statistics South Africa Government of South Africa
    Producers
    Name Affiliation Role
    Department of Home Affairs Government of South Africa Registering deaths

    survey_instrument

    Questionnaires

    The registration of deaths is captured using two instruments: form BI-1663 and form DHA-1663: Notification/Register of death/stillbirth

    Data Collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2021 2022
    Time Method

    Trend study [trend study]

    Time periods
    Start date End date
    2021 2022
    Mode of data collection
    • Other
    Data Collectors
    Name Affiliation Abbreviation
    Department of Home Affairs Government of South Arica DHA
    Supervision

    The data is collected and distributed under the Civil Registrations Act and the Statistics Act of South Africa.

    Data Collection Notes

    The 2021 dataset excludes deaths that might not have been registered in 2021 and deaths that have been registered but have not reached Stats SA during the 2023/2024 processing phase. In addition, the 2022 dataset excludes deaths that might not have been registered in 2022 and deaths that have been registered but have not reached Stats SA during the 2024/2025 processing phase.

    Depositor information

    Depositor
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation
    Statistics South Africa StatsSA Government of South Africa
    Date of Deposit

    2025

    Distributor information

    Distributor
    Organization name Affiliation URL
    DataFirst University of Cape Town https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/
    Date of Distribution

    2025

    Data Access

    Access authority
    Name Affiliation URL Email
    DataFirst Support University of Cape Town support.data1st.org support@data1st.org
    Access conditions

    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial CC-BY-NC access and use license

    Citation requirements

    Statistics South Africa. Mortality and Causes of Death 2021-2022 [dataset]. Version 1. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa [producer], 2025. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/DBKY-Y636

    Deposit requirements

    Users of the data must send DataFirst a copy of or link to any publication based on the data

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email URL
    DataFirst Helpdesk University of Cape Town support@data1st.org support.data1st.org

    Metadata production

    Producers
    Name Affiliation Role
    DataFirst University of Cape Town Metadata Record Producer
    Date of Metadata Production

    2025-11-13

    Metadata version

    DDI Document version

    V1

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