The COVID-19 infection, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, was the leading cause of death in Croatia in 2021, and for the first time in 50 years, an infectious disease was the main cause of death in the country, the Jutarnji List daily newspaper reported on Saturday.

The second most common cause of death was ischemic heart disease, and diabetes, hypertension and lung cancers made top five causes, the daily newspaper said in a comment on the data provided by the Croatian Institute of Public Health for 2021.

The chairman of the Croatian epidemiologists’ society, Miroslav Venus, told the paper that the data corroborated the claims that the coronaviorus infection was a serous disease.

The statistics show that last year, 8,557 citizens died from the consequences of COVID-19.

In 2021, there were 62,712 deaths in Croatia, a record high since the end of the Second World War, show the data of the national statistical office (DZS), and 5,689 more people passed away in 2021 than in 2020.

The figure of 62,712 deaths in a year is by 20% higher than the annual average in the 2015-2019 period.

Researcher Ivan Čipin was quoted by the daily newspaper as saying that this rise in mortality is linked with the COVID-19 pandemic.