South Africa reported a 57 percent jump in reported deaths between 1997 and 2002 on Friday, providing a startling - if indirect - picture of the rocketing toll of the country’s AIDS epidemic

Releasing figures from a widely awaited national mortality study, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said reported deaths leapt to 499,268 in 2002 from 318,287 in 1997.

Its report also showed deaths increasing most rapidly for women and for people aged between 20 and 49 - both regarded as groups most susceptible to the virus, which affects an estimated one in nine of the country’s 45 million people.

The study “provides indirect evidence that the HIV epidemic in South Africa is raising the mortality levels of prime aged adults,” Stats SA head Pali Lehohla said in a statement.

Officials said exact causes of death remained difficult to ascertain as in many cases AIDS-related diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza or pneumonia were officially recorded as responsible.

Stats SA officials said that while South Africa’s AIDS epidemic was likely an important factor in the rising death rate, part of the increase could also be attributed to a growing overall population, and improved data on deaths.