Data published by Egypt’s statistics agency CAPMAS on Monday showed that deaths in Egypt were up by 31.3 percent during the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2019.

The rise in deaths comes at a time when the country has been battling the coronavirus since February last year, going through three waves so far.

According to the CAPMAS report, the number of deaths increased from 292,123 in the first six months of 2019 to 383,651 in the first half of 2021.

Comparing the number of deaths in the first halves of 2020 and 2021, a 14.9 percent rise has been recorded, according to the agency.

The number of deaths also increased by 16.8 percent in 2020 compared to 2019.

In January this year, the World Health Organisation’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) said that Egypt has been among the countries with the highest reported number of coronavirus-related deaths in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

As of 4 July, Egypt has recorded 16,264 deaths from 282,082 confirmed coronavirus cases since February last year.

In the same report, CAPMAS said the Egyptian population reached 102 million by 5 July, increasing by 1 million people in nine months.

Concerning births, Egypt recorded a 3.1 percent decrease from 2019 to 2020, and births decreased by 8.9 percent in the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020, CAPMAS said.

Governorates with the highest birth rate in 2020 were Upper Egypt’s Qena, Minya, Assiut, Sohag and Beni Suef, according to CAPMAS.