Excess deaths show pattern of pandemic

THE number of excess deaths experienced by each European country in 2020 has been revealed.

The Office of National Statistics revealed this week how many more deaths each European country experienced in 2020 compared to the average for the previous five years.

This is a useful way to examine how many people have died as a result of the pandemic as each country records Covid-19 deaths differently.

By looking at the increase in excess deaths, we can compare how many more deaths each country saw in 2020 compared to previous years.

Excess deaths are an increase on the average number of deaths that are expected to occur in any given year.

Deaths of all age groups are included in the data which helps to account for seasonal mortality – as an example, in a usual year, older people may be more likely to die in the winter due to flu.

The data shows that in the first half of 2020, which covers the first wave of the coronavirus, England and the UK had the highest number of excess deaths. Wales had the seventh highest excess deaths for the same period, behind Spain, Scotland, Belgium and Italy.

However, looking at the year as a whole, the United Kingdom had a much lower number of excess deaths compared to other European countries, and Wales even more so.

For the whole of 2020, Wales saw 4.1% more deaths than expected, Poland saw 11.6% more, Spain 10.6% more, England 7.8% more and Scotland 5.7% more.

Excess deaths began to pick up again in the autumn and winter months, with eastern European countries experiencing the biggest increase, but Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands too saw increasing levels of excess deaths.