Madrid, Jun 18 (IANS): Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the overall number of deaths in Spain reached 492,930 in 2020, a 17 per cent increase from 2019, according to data published by the country's National Statistics Institute.

In terms of months, the highest spikes coincided with the first and second waves of the pandemic, reaching 56.8 per cent in March and 78.2 per cent in April, and 21 per cent in October and 21.6 per cent in November, Xinhua news agency reported citing the data issued on Thursday as saying.

All 17 autonomous communities of Spain saw more deaths in the past year, with Madrid registering the highest increase of 41.2 per cent.

Following Madrid were Castilla-La Mancha with 32.3 per cent, Castilla-Leon with 26 per cent, and Catalonia with 23.5 per cent, the data revealed.

Due to more deaths, Spain's life expectancy fell by 1.24 years to an average of 82.34 years, it showed.

Meanwhile, the number of births in Spain was 339,206 in 2020, down by 5.9 per cent.

The largest monthly decrease came in December, with 21.5 per cent, nine months after the country imposed a national lockdown, it showed.