women protecting her head from the sun.

In July 2023 (weeks 27 to 30), the number of weekly deaths in the EU and EFTA countries was above the 2016-2019 average, around 6 200 deaths above the baseline. 

New data from Eurostat indicates that, among the EU and EFTA countries, the highest death rates were observed in Malta (158% period average and 217% period maximum, week 30), Greece (120% period average and 139% period maximum, week 29), Cyprus (117% period average and 134% period maximum, week 30) and Ireland (114% period average and 116% period maximum, week 28).

Most deaths were recorded in the second and third week of July, up by around + 3 800 and +3 200. While these data show deaths from all causes, July 2023 was the month when major heatwaves were felt across Europe. Information from the Copernicus Climate Change Service shows that the southern area of the continent experienced temperatures up to 45°C, affecting mostly Greece, eastern Spain, Sardinia, Sicily and southern Italy.

In the first week of July (week 27), the death rate was below the baseline at 99% (-800 deaths). However, in the following two weeks (28 and 29), it went up to 105% and 104%, respectively. In the last week of July (week 30), the death rate decreased to the baseline value (100%).

Until the end of July this year, the death rate hit the highest value in the first week of January, at 112%, and the lowest at the beginning of March, at 97%.
 

Source dataset: demo_r_mwk3_t

Hardest hit regions
 

Looking at EU/EFTA regional data by NUTS3 level, we can see which regions were the most affected during the heatwave weeks. During week 28, the most impacted were Lungau in Austria (343%), Glarus in eastern Switzerland (289%), Außerfern also in Austria (235%), Fuerteventura and Lanzarote in Spain (214% and 176%, respectively), and Philippeville in Belgium (176%). 

In week 29, five regions observed death rates above 200%: Uri in Switzerland (267%), Arlon in Belgium (230%), the islands of Ithaca and Kefalonia (229%) and Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece (218%), and the Greater Delfzijl region in the Netherlands (200%). According to the data, from the 25 regions with the highest death rates, all above 164% (equivalent to around 2 200 deaths), 10 regions were in Greece, 8 were in Italy, and 3 were in Switzerland. 

In the last week of July (week 30), 25 regions recorded death rates of 168% and higher (a total of around 3 200 deaths). Catania in Italy recorded the highest death rate at 282%, followed by Dytiki Attiki and Zakynthos in Greece (248% and 246%), La Palma in Spain (242%), and Vibo Valentia in Italy (236%). In general, most of the top 25 regions are located in the south of Europe: 13 regions in Italy, 8 in Greece, 2 in Spain and Malta.
 

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Methodological notes

 

  • When possible, the names of the NUTS3 regions were translated into English. 
  • Thirty-one countries provide weekly mortality data, for all weeks of the years 2016-2019 as a basis for comparison: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Data received from candidate and neighbouring countries are not included in this article. Due to missing or incomplete data for some countries, Eurostat has estimated the European aggregate (EU + EFTA) for July 2023 (weeks 27 to 30) based on the latest available information.
  • In April 2020, Eurostat launched a new data collection exercise on weekly deaths and invited all EU and EFTA countries, as well as candidate or neighbouring countries to provide data. Eurostat publishes data on the number of deaths in different European countries by week, age, sex and NUTS 3 regions, but not all breakdowns are available.