The weekly death estimates are intended to provide quick estimates of the number of deaths occurring each week from registrations recorded in the computerised Civil Registers, as well as their comparison with historical death data since the year 2000. This allows the data to be interpreted with the necessary historical perspective, given the variability of deaths over time. Thus, two types of data will always coexist in the project:

• Definitive data (deaths from 2000 to the last data published in the death statistics).
• Estimated data (completing the series up to date).

The data shall be published on a monthly basis and shall refer to the period ending two weeks before the publication date.