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Vital Statistics: Deaths Statistics

Minimise complete Methodological Report

- 1.1. Contact organisation
  - National Statistics Institute of Spain
- 1.5. Contact mail address
  - Avenida de Manoteras 50-52 - 28050 Madrid
- 2.1. Metadata last certified
  - 31/10/2025
- 2.2. Metadata last posted
  - 19/11/2025
- 2.3. Metadata last update
  - 31/10/2025
- 3.1. Data description
  - The death statistics include the deaths occurring in Spain each year. Death is considered the death of any person who dies regardless of the number of hours lived.
    
    The data are collected in a document called a medical death certificate/statistical death bulletin. This document is completed by the doctor who certifies the death, in the section relating to personal data and causes of death. The Civil Registry in which the death is registered completes the data relating to the registration and the declarant or relatives the data relating to the residence or nationality of the deceased. In the case of deaths that occur in special circumstances and in which a court intervenes.
    
    The death statistics provide information broken down at the national level as well as at the level of Autonomous Community, provinces, capitals and municipalities. It includes information on the deceased with less than twenty-four hours of life.
- 3.2. Classification system
  - - Comunidades y Ciudades Autónomas
      - 01 Andalucía 02 Aragón 03 Asturias, Principado de 04 Balears, Illes 05 Canarias 06 Cantabria 07 Castilla y León 08 Castilla - La Mancha 09 Cataluña 10 Comunitat Valenciana 11 Extremadura 12 Galicia 13 Madrid, Comunidad de 14 Murcia, Región de 15 Navarra, Comunidad Foral de 16 País Vasco 17 Rioja, La 18 Ceuta 19 Melilla
    - Edad
      - Y0 Menos de 1 año Y1 1 año Y2 2 años Y3 3 años Y4 4 años Y5 5 años Y6 6 años Y7 7 años Y8 8 años Y9 9 años Y10 10 años Y11 11 años Y12 12 años Y13 13 años Y14 14 años Y15 15 años Y16 16 años Y17 17 años Y18 18 años Y19 19 años Y20 20 años Y21 21 años Y22 22 años Y23 23 años Y24 24 años Y25 25 años Y26 26 años Y27 27 años Y28 28 años Y29 29 años Y30 30 años Y31 31 años Y32 32 años Y33 33 años Y34 34 años Y35 35 años Y36 36 años Y37 37 años Y38 38 años Y39 39 años Y40 40 años Y41 41 años Y42 42 años Y43 43 años Y44 44 años Y45 45 años Y46 46 años Y47 47 años Y48 48 años Y49 49 años Y50 50 años Y51 51 años Y52 52 años Y53 53 años Y54 54 años Y55 55 años Y56 56 años Y57 57 años Y58 58 años Y59 59 años Y60 60 años Y61 61 años Y62 62 años Y63 63 años Y64 64 años Y65 65 años Y66 66 años Y67 67 años Y68 68 años Y69 69 años Y70 70 años Y71 71 años Y72 72 años Y73 73 años Y74 74 años Y75 75 años Y76 76 años Y77 77 años Y78 78 años Y79 79 años Y80 80 años Y81 81 años Y82 82 años Y83 83 años Y84 84 años Y85 85 años Y86 86 años Y87 87 años Y88 88 años Y89 89 años Y90 90 años Y91 91 años Y92 92 años Y93 93 años Y94 94 años Y95 95 años Y96 96 años Y97 97 años Y98 98 años Y99 99 años Y-GE100 100 y más años
    - Estado civil 2
      - 1 Solteros/Solteras 2 Casados/Casadas 3 Viudos/Viudas 4-5 Separados/Separadas y Divorciados/Divorciadas
    - Grupos de edad 17
      - D0 Menos de 24 horas D1 1 día D2 2 días D3 3 días D4 4 días D5 5 días D6 6 días D7T13 De 7 a 13 días D14T20 De 14 a 20 días D21T27 De 21 a 27 días D28TM-LT2 De 28 días a menos de 2 meses M2 2 meses M3 3 meses M4 4 meses M5 5 meses M6 6 meses M7 7 meses M8 8 meses M9 9 meses M10 10 meses M11 11 meses
    - Meses
      - 01 Enero 02 Febrero 03 Marzo 04 Abril 05 Mayo 06 Junio 07 Julio 08 Agosto 09 Septiembre 10 Octubre 11 Noviembre 12 Diciembre
    - Municipios
      - Relación de municipios y sus códigos acorde al estándar del INE Ver clasificación
    - Provincias
      - 02 Albacete 03 Alicante/Alacant 04 Almería 01 Araba/Álava 33 Asturias 05 Ávila 06 Badajoz 07 Balears, Illes 08 Barcelona 48 Bizkaia 09 Burgos 10 Cáceres 11 Cádiz 39 Cantabria 12 Castellón/Castelló 13 Ciudad Real 14 Córdoba 15 Coruña, A 16 Cuenca 20 Gipuzkoa 17 Girona 18 Granada 19 Guadalajara 21 Huelva 22 Huesca 23 Jaén 24 León 25 Lleida 27 Lugo 28 Madrid 29 Málaga 30 Murcia 31 Navarra 32 Ourense 34 Palencia 35 Palmas, Las 36 Pontevedra 26 Rioja, La 37 Salamanca 38 Santa Cruz de Tenerife 40 Segovia 41 Sevilla 42 Soria 43 Tarragona 44 Teruel 45 Toledo 46 Valencia/València 47 Valladolid 49 Zamora 50 Zaragoza 51 Ceuta 52 Melilla
    - Sexo
      - 1 Hombres 2 Mujeres
    - Valores especiales
      - U Desconocido, no sabe, sin datos X No consta, no asignado, no especificado P No procede Z No clasificable, no aplicable
- 3.3. Sector coverage
  - It collects all deaths occurring in Spain, regardless of whether they are of resident or non-resident population
- 3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
  - - Age
      - Age in years refers to the number of birthdays reached by the reference date, in other words, the age last birthday.
    - Death
      - The statistical concept death used traditionally in Spain comprised the deaths of all persons that had lived for more than 24 hours. As of 1975, this concept has been broadened to include live births that die during the first 24 hours.
    - Legal marital status
      - Legal marital status is defined as that which every individual has in accordance with marriage legislation (or marriage uses) of the country (in other words, the legal situation).
    - Sex
      - Sex refers to the biological sex of the person. According to the WHO, "sex" refers to biological and physiological features defining to men and women, whereas "gender" refers to the roles, behaviour, activities and attributes constructed socially that a specific culture regards as appropriate for men and women. In accordance with this description, the WHO regards "man" and "woman" as sex categories, whereas "male" and "female" are gender categories.
    - Usual residence
      - Place where a person normally spends rest periods, not taking into account temporary absences due to leisure trips, holidays, visits to family and friends, business, visiting friends or relatives or religious pilgrimages. Nevertheless, it is important to highlight that only usual residents in a region will be considered: - Those who, according to the previous definition, would usually have lived therein for a continuous period of at least 12 months. - Those who, according to the previous definition, would have established their usual residence therein less than 12 months ago, but with the intention of remaining therein for at least one year. Where the above circumstances cannot be established, "usual residence" shall mean the place of registered residence.
- 3.5. Statistical unit
  - The basic unit of the statistics is the deceased person
- 3.6. Statistical population
  - The target population of the statistics is all the people who die in Spain
- 3.7. Reference area
  - The statistics cover the entire national territory, with data broken down by Autonomous Community, provinces, capitals and municipalities.
- 3.8. Time coverage
  - The statistics are carried out on an annual basis. Results are available from 1900 to 2024.
- 3.9. Base period
  - Year 1975
- 4.1. Unit of measure
  - The unit of measurement is the number of persons who die in the reference period
- 5.1. Reference period
  - The data refer to the calendar year covered by the statistics, regardless of whether the data are published by month of occurrence of the deaths
    Data referred to the period: Anual A: 2025
- 6.1. Legal acts and other agreements
  - The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2025-2028, approved by Royal Decree 1225/2024, of 3 December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2025-2028. (Statistics of the State Administration).
    There are collaboration agreements with the Autonomous Communities for the preparation of the Vital Statistics
- 6.2. Data sharing
  - The exchanges of information needed to elaborate statistics between the INE and the rest of the State statistical offices (Ministerial Departments, independent bodies and administrative bodies depending on the State General Administration), or between these offices and the Autonomic statistical offices, are regulated in the LFEP (Law of the Public Statistic Function). This law also regulates the mechanisms of statistical coordination, and concludes cooperation agreements between the different offices when necessary.
    It is carried out in collaboration with the Autonomous Communities
- 7.1. Confidentiality - policy
  - The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society
- 7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
  - INE provides information on the protection of confidentiality at all stages of the statistical process: INE questionnaires for the operations in the national statistical plan include a legal clause protecting data under statistical confidentiality. Notices prior to data collection announcing a statistical operation notify respondents that data are subject to statistical confidentiality at all stages. For data processing, INE employees have available the INE data protection handbook, which specifies the steps that should be taken at each stage of processing to ensure reporting units' individual data are protected. The microdata files provided to users are anonymised.
    .
- 8.1. Release calendar
  - The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.
- 8.2. Release calendar access
  - The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)
- 8.3. User access
  - The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice
- 9.1. Frequency of dissemination
  - The definitive results corresponding to year t are published during the last quarter of year t+1, along with the micro-data files from which they are obtained. The advanced results are disseminated on a monthly basis by means of the following statistical operation:
    
    • Estimated number of weekly deaths
- 10.1. News release
  - The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web
- 10.2. Publications
  - The results of this statistic are disseminated through the INE website and some results are included in publications such as the Statistical Yearbook, INE Figures, Spain in Figures, etc.
- 10.3. On-line database
  - INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.
    
    All the information related to this statistic (results, methodology, questionnaires, etc.) can be consulted at
    
    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177008&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735573002
    
    Informgation related to Weekly death estimates can be found at:
    
    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177074&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735573002
    
    Final data contain detailed tables for the different variables included in the Medical Death Certificate-Statistical Death Bulletin.
    
    All the information regarding the Basic Demographic Indicators in general can be consulted at:
    
    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177003&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735573002
    
    Final data on mortality indicators provide information at the national, Autonomous Community and province levels with greater disaggregation of variables.
- 10.4. Micro-data access
  - A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section
    The microdata files of this statistic can be accessed and downloaded. These files are made anonymous to preserve statistical secrecy.
    
    No information is provided for the following variables:
    
    - Name, surname, identification document, address of the deceased person
    
    - Registration data of the death in the civil registry
    
    - Variable day on all dates
    
    - Codes of municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants. The size of the municipalities is provided
    
    - Codes of countries with a lower frequency than that established
    
    - Causes of death
    
    The information can be consulted at:
    
    https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177008&menu=resultados&secc=1254736195450&idp=1254735573002#!tabs-1254736195450
- 10.5. Other
  - Interested users can request, through the INE User Service Area, specific operations of information that are carried out preserving the confidentiality of the data and signing the corresponding agreement or document.
    See:
    https://www.ine.es/ss/Satellite?c=Page&p=1254735550786&pagename=ProductosYServicios%2FPYSLayout&rendermode=previewnoinsitem&cid=1254735550786&L=1
- 10.6. Documentation on methodology
  - A detailed description is available at:
    
    https://www.ine.es/en/metodologia/t20/t2030301_en.pdf
    
    https://www.ine.es/en/metodologia/t20/metodologia_idb_en.pdf
    
    AC3=100%.
- 10.7. Quality documentation
  - Fields 10.6 to 17 of this document are considered the user-oriented quality report for this operation
- 11.1. Quality assurance
  - Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.
    
    On 1 January 2009 a series of reforms came into force in the collection of information on death statistics as well as death statistics according to cause of death. Several changes have been made, both in the forms and in the information circuit.
    
    The objectives have been the following:
    
    1.- To improve the quality of information in general and in particular of the causes of death, adapting the method of collecting these variables to the recommendations of the WHO and Eurostat. To this end, two documents have been unified in which the information was collected: the medical death certificate (MDC) and the statistical death bulletin (SDB). Both requested duplicate identification information and, in addition, the doctor had to fill in the causes of death in both of them. This double effort was not always carried out by the certifying doctor, and the SDB was completed by another person from the MDC information, with the consequent loss of quality of the information.
    
    2.- The coverage control is carried out in the Provincial Delegations of the INE from cross-checking the correlative registration volume and page. It is also compared with the computerised part of the Civil Registry.
    
    3.- To adapt the collection of information to the new technologies of Information and Communication. To this end, it has been implemented optical character recognition (OCR) to perform the recording of information and the new MDC/SDB has been designed for the same purpose.
    
    In order to evaluate the quality of the information contained in the medical death certificate/statistical death bulletin as well as in the judicial death statistical bulletin, exhaustive controls are carried out in all phases of the statistics process from the recording of the information to its publication.
    
    Particular emphasis is placed on checking that the values of the variables are valid, that there are no inconsistencies between the information we receive in a single death and that we receive all deaths occurred in Spain in the reference period of the data
    
    Likewise, the INE information is compared with that provided by the Ministry of Justice for registrations made in computerised civil registers. This comparison allows us to correct the errors detected.
    
    The errors and non-response detected in the variables included in the medical death certificate/statistical death bulletin are cleaned with the information provided by the Ministry of Justice corresponding to death registrations made in computerised civil registers. This information is accessible in all INE provincial delegations at the time of recording the information in the statistical bulletins. This allows for cleaning and detecting possible lack of coverage with considerable time savings, while minimizing non-response.
- 11.2. Quality assessment
  - Not applicable.
- 12.1. User needs
  - The information on deaths is used by other units of the INE, such as:
    - Electoral Roll, to remove deceased individuals.
    - Census. The death files serve as the basis for municipalities to update their Municipal Register of Inhabitants by removing deceased individuals.
    - Health Statistics, to prepare Death Statistics by cause of death.
    - Demographic Indicators, to prepare mortality tables and life expectancy.
    - Demographic Projections for calculating future population figures.
    - National Organizations: Based on the RESOLUTION of February 7, 2005, from the Undersecretary, which establishes the publication of the management mandate from the Secretary of State for Justice to the National Statistics Institute regarding the transmission of computerized data related to registrations of births, marriages, and deaths carried out in Civil Registers, the Ministry of Justice and the National Statistics Institute signed, on October 13, 2004, an Agreement that temporarily entrusts the latter with transmitting computerized data related to registrations of births, marriages, and deaths in Civil Registers until the process of computerizing all Civil Registers is completed. The National Statistics Institute, at the request of the General Directorate of Registers and Notaries, may facilitate the mass transmission of public-interest data to public organizations that are interested in it.
    - International Organizations: EUROSTAT and the United Nations. Information is submitted according to the agreements made in the demographic statistics working group meetings.
    - Requests from universities, research groups in hospitals, companies, and individuals.
      
      Universities and researchers request death information to conduct studies on diseases.
      
      Insurance companies, which use death information as the basis for calculating the contribution period of policies.
    Unmet needs and plans/efforts to address them in the future:
    1. Improvement in coverage and registration of deaths: Although death information is generally accessible, there are areas where the registration of deaths may not be entirely exhaustive, especially in remote regions or situations where there is limited access to civil registers. In the future, efforts will be made to improve coverage through awareness campaigns and the implementation of more efficient registration mechanisms in rural areas and abroad.
    2. Faster updates of data: The updating of death data may sometimes be delayed due to resource shortages or slow administrative processes. More efficient IT systems are being implemented to ensure that death information is registered and updated more quickly, reducing processing and publication times.
    3. Improved accessibility of data for users: Although the data is available, there is a need to improve user access to the information, especially for academic studies or research. Digital platforms and open databases are being developed to allow users easier access to death information. This includes improving visualization tools and creating customized reports.
    4. Better integration with other health and social security systems: In the future, efforts will be made to enhance the integration of death data with other health and social security systems, which will allow for better coordination in data collection and usage. This will facilitate a more efficient response to research and analysis needs in the health and insurance sectors.
    5. Promoting transparency and trust in data: In the future, efforts are planned to increase transparency in the collection and publication of data, in order to improve user trust in the quality of death information. This includes implementing data quality audits and regularly publishing reports on the state of the records.
- 12.2. User satisfaction
  - The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...
    
    On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click next link)
- 12.3. Completeness
  - The information required is made available to users, respecting the confidentiality of the information. The modification of the content of the questionnaire carried out in 2009 took into account the needs for additional information required by other bodies and institutions.
    The information collected allows us to deal with all the requests received.
    100% of the results requested by the National Statistical Plan are provided
    Data completeness rate is 100%
- 13.1. Overall accuracy
  - The collection procedure, coverage control, cleaning of errors and imputation of non-response, allows to obtain a high degree of reliability of the statistics.
    
    Here’s the description of the main sources of error (both random and systematic) in death statistics:
    
    Random Errors:
    1. Errors in the notification or reporting of deaths:
      
      The information that reaches the death statistics system depends on reports from various sources, such as doctors, hospitals, and civil registry offices. Random errors can occur during the data collection process, such as typographical mistakes or incomplete information.
    2. Errors in the coding of causes of death:
      
      The classification of causes of death, based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes, may be subject to interpretation. Variations in interpretation among healthcare professionals can result in inconsistencies and random errors during the coding process.
    3. Estimation errors in rural or hard-to-reach areas:
      
      In some remote or hard-to-reach areas, death records may be incomplete or delayed. These errors occur randomly depending on geographic location and logistical conditions.
    Systematic Errors:
    1. Underreporting of deaths:
      
      In some areas or population groups, not all deaths are properly reported or registered. Deaths in rural regions or areas with administrative difficulties may not be adequately reflected in the statistics, leading to systematic underreporting.
    2. Errors in the cause of death:
      
      Some cases may be misclassified in the statistics due to incorrect diagnoses or incomplete information at the time of death. If the cause of death is not determined accurately, it can affect statistical calculations, introducing a systematic bias in the classification of causes of death.
    3. Delays in death registration:
      
      There may be delays in death registration due to a lack of staff or resources in civil registries. These delays can affect the timeliness of the data and reduce the accuracy of the statistics.
    4. Variability in the quality of records across different sources:
      
      The sources of information, such as hospitals, forensic doctors, and other stakeholders involved in death registration, may vary in their procedures, data quality, and reporting protocols. This can lead to systematic bias in death data, as the quality of information may be inconsistent.
    5. Imputation errors in missing data:
      
      When relevant information, such as the cause of death or deceased individuals' data, is missing, imputation methods may be used to fill the gaps. If these methods are not appropriate or if missing data follow systematic patterns (e.g., in certain regions or socioeconomic groups), it can result in distortion of the final statistics.
    These sources of error can affect the accuracy and reliability of death statistics. Identifying and mitigating them is essential to improve the quality of data used for demographic, health, and social analysis.
- 13.2. Sampling error
  - It is not applicable because the data are obtained comprehensively from an administrative source (entries in the Civil Register)
- 13.3. Non-sampling error
  - Delays in the submission of information by some civil registries and lack of information in some variables of the bulletin. This results in a non-response rate of approximately 0.1 percent
    
    An attempt is made to reduce the non-response rate by obtaining information from the Secretariat of State for Justice file
    
    A4=0.1%
- 14.1. Timeliness
  - The provisional data of the statistics are published in February of the year following the reference year of the information, that is, within a period of 2 months, through the Estimation of the number of Weekly Deaths.
    
    TP1=2 months.
    
    The final data of the statistics are published in November of the year following the reference year of the information, that is, within a period of 11 months.
    
    TP2=11 months.
- 14.2. Punctuality
  - Data dissemination is carried out in accordance with the structural statistics availability calendar that the INE prepares and publishes for each year.
    
    TP3=100%.
- 15.1. Comparability - geographical
  - The processing of this statistic in all its phases is the same for the entire territory. In this way, the results are perfectly comparable for any geographical disaggregation. Likewise, they are comparable with the rest of the European Union countries as they follow the Eurostat recommendations established for all countries and agreed in the meetings of the Demographic Statistics working group
- 15.2. Comparability - over time
  - The statistical concept of death used traditionally in Spain included all those who died with more than 24 hours of life. As of 1975, this concept has been expanded with the incorporation of those born alive and deceased during the first 24 hours of life. This change implies the adaptation of the death criterion recommended by international organisations.
    
    This change led to a break in the series of deaths from 1975 onwards, since before 1975 the death figures do not include those born alive who died before the first 24 hours of life, and from 1975 onwards it does
    
    The length of the comparable data series is 48 years
    
    CC2=48 años
- 15.3. Coherence - cross domain
  - The death figures are consistent with both the census figures and with future population projections
- 15.4. Coherence - internal
  - The consistency between variables is contrasted in all phases of the statistical process.
- 16.1. Cost and burden
  - In order for doctors who certify a death not to have to complete the medical death certificate and, in addition, the death statistics bulletin, in 2009 the questionnaire was modified to collect information from this statistic by designing a unique model called the medical death certificate/statistical death bulletin in which all the information required in both documents is collected.
    
    As it is a statistic based on an administrative register, it does not involve a burden for the respondents
    
    The estimated budget appropriation necessary to finance the Vital Statistics (made up of the Death Statistics, the Birth Statistics, the Marriage Statistics) foreseen in the 2025 Annual Programme is 5,031.64 thousand euros
- 17.1. Data revision - policy
  - The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).
    
    This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow: routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.
    
    Final data are not reviewed. They are only reviewed if there is an error in the publication
- 17.2. Data revision - practice
  - In February 2023, in the Death Statistics, the variable marital status was revised for the period 2016–2020, applying the same methodology and breakdown used for the 2021 published data, in order to ensure the comparability of the series.
    
    The purpose of this revision was to incorporate high-reliability administrative information for those deaths in which the marital status variable had been imputed when the definitive data were originally produced.
    
    For this purpose, the main source used was the information from computerized civil registry death records. Subsequently, for deaths for which marital status information was still unavailable, data from the Population Pre-Census Files as of January 1 of each reference year were used, selecting only those records whose source was one of the following:
    - File provided by the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) containing persons receiving a widow(er)’s pension.
    - Marital status declared in Form 100 of the Personal Income Tax Return, provided by the Tax Agency, and equivalent forms from the Provincial Tax Authorities of Álava, Biscay, Gipuzkoa, and the Chartered Community of Navarre.
    - Marriage bulletins from the INE’s Vital Statistics (Movimiento Natural de la Población) since 2005.
    - Files on separations and divorces from computerized Civil Registries since 2002.
    - Marital status of foreign nationals registered in the Central Register of Foreigners.
    Finally, those deceased persons for whom marital status information could not be found in any available administrative record were included under the category “Not stated.”
- 18.1. Source data
  - The statistics data are obtained from the information filled in by doctors, courts, family members and the Civil Registry at the time of a death. Two models of questionnaires have been designed
    
    1.-Medical Death Certificate/Statistical Death Bulletin for deaths in which there are no special circumstances
    
    2.- In the case of deaths in which, due to their circumstances, a court must intervene, the information is collected in a in a web application.
    
    The information contained in both documents is practically the same. Information is obtained from the personal data of the deceased person, the place of death, the causes of death, the circumstances of the death in the case of deaths with judicial intervention, the registration in the Civil Registry
- 18.2. Frequency of data collection
  - Data collection is carried out monthly.
- 18.3. Data collection
  - Information is obtained through the following data collection tools:
    
    – In the case of death by natural causes, the collection tool is: The Medical Certificate of Death/Statistical Death Bulletin (CMD/BED, per its Spanish initials): there are versions in Spanish and in the co-official languages as well. The first sheet corresponds to the medical death certificate and must always be completed by the doctor certifying the death, while the Statistical Deaths Bulletin can be completed by the reporting party or, failing that, by the Civil Register. This paper document is delivered to the Civil Registry of the municipality where the death took place. On a monthly basis, the CMD/BEDs are sent from the civil registries to the corresponding INE provincial office. At said office, it is scanned and processed.
    
    As a consequence of the Vital Statistics modernisation process, from 2009 onwards, recording techniques using optical character recognition were incorporated into the CMD/BED.
    
    – In the case of violent deaths, or suspected criminal deaths, the collection tools used are:
    
    The Statistical Deaths Bulletin with Judicial Intervention is filled out in a web application designed by the INE, which the courts can access through the Punto Neutro Judicial (inter-agency communication network). From 2020 onwards, deaths involving judicial investigation are mainly recorded by the Institutes of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences through an application designed by the INE.
- 18.4. Data validation
  - In the initial phase of the statistics, its recording by means of optical character recognition, the application includes the detection of certain errors in the MDC/SDB information as well as the control of coverage and the detection of duplicated information. These errors have to be corrected in this first phase in order to include their information in the death database. The objective is to obtain levels of quality that make the process of cleaning and imputation of the subsequent processing phases faster and less costly.
- 18.5. Data compilation
  - A cleaning of the recorded data at national level is carried out in order to detect inconsistencies, duplicates, lack of information, etc. The result of this process is subjected to an automatic imputation phase for variables with missing or inconsistent information. Once this phase has been completed, the microdata files of the statistics are obtained from which we obtain the tables of the publication of both deaths and the corresponding mortality indicators. Likewise, the anonymised microdata files are obtained and made available to users on the web
- 18.6. Adjustment
  - No adjustments are made, as the data from this statistic is derived from an administrative record
- 19.1. Comment