Excess mortality in the EU fell for the second consecutive month following a peak of +16% in July, which was the highest value on record to date in 2022 and unusually high for the month of July. Excess mortality in September 2022 decreased from +13% in August to +9% of the average number of deaths for the same period in 2016-2019. There were 30 000 excess deaths in September.
Compared with the same months of previous years, the excess mortality rate was +8% in September 2020 (28 000 excess deaths) and +13% in September 2021 (44 000 excess deaths).
This information comes from data on excess mortality published by Eurostat today, based on weekly deaths data collection. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained articles on excess mortality and weekly deaths.
Source dataset: demo_mexrt
Excess mortality rates continued to vary across the EU Member States. All Member States registered positive rates, except for Slovakia, which decreased to -2% from the +11% rate recorded in August 2022.
The highest rates in September 2022 were recorded in Finland and Greece (both +17%), followed by Estonia (+16%), and Germany (+15%). Meanwhile, besides Slovakia, the lowest rates were recorded in Luxembourg (+2%), Hungary (+2%), Bulgaria (+3%), Slovenia (+4%) and Latvia (+5%), all less than half of the EU average.
The EU registered earlier major peaks in excess deaths in April 2020 (+25%), November 2020 (+40%), April 2021 (+21%) and November 2021 (+27%).
How did the situation evolve in your country?
Although excess mortality was observed during most of the past two years across Europe, the peaks and intensity of outbreaks varied greatly between countries. For further analysis, you can read the Statistics Explained article on excess mortality and use the interactive tool by selecting the country you would like to analyse.
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on excess mortality
- Statistics Explained article on weekly deaths
- Dedicated page on population & demography
Methodological notes:
- Excess mortality refers to the number of deaths from all causes measured during a crisis, above what could be observed in ‘normal’ conditions. The excess mortality indicator draws attention to the magnitude of the health crisis by providing a comprehensive comparison of additional deaths amongst European countries and allows for further analysis of the causes.
- Please note that while a substantial increase in excess mortality largely coincides with the COVID-19 outbreak, this indicator does not discriminate among the causes of death and does not identify differences between sex or age.
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