Of the total deaths in May, only 0.6% were attributed to covid-19, adds the INE, noting that between May 3 and June 6 this year "the number of deaths remained relatively stable around the 2015 average, close to pre-pandemic values.

The number of deaths in May was "slightly higher" than in April, but far from January, the worst month since the beginning of the pandemic, in which 19,641 people died in Portugal.

INE also highlights that in March and April 2021, 8.3% to 11.5% fewer children were born compared to the same months in 2020, "mainting the downward trend seen since July 2020".

From January to April, 3,482 fewer children were born alive in Portugal, but in March and April there was a "slight recovery" of the negative natural balance, with a smaller difference between the number of new births and deaths.