CEBU, Philippines — The official death toll for Typhoon Haiyan has exceeded 5,200, confirming that the devastating storm was one of the Philippines’s deadliest ever recorded.

With the jump in the numbers of dead Friday, the storm for the first time officially reached the levels of Tropical Storm Thelma, which killed at least 5,000 people in 1991, and the toll from Haiyan is likely to continue to grow. The counting method used is considered conservative, and government figures also show that 1,611 people are still listed as missing.

The death toll has been a contentious issue since the early days of rescue efforts after the storm, when a high estimate of 10,000 dead added to the notion that the government had been caught flat-footed by the typhoon that devastated the central Philippines. President Benigno S. Aquino III at the time played down reports of the higher possible death toll, suggesting that 2,000 or 2,500 might be more realistic.

Mr. Aquino attributed the larger figure to the “emotional trauma” experienced by those providing the estimates. The police official considered responsible for the number was “relieved from his post,” the official Philippines News Agency reported.