Filenews 18 February 2023
Additional mortality in the European Union increased to +19%, and to +19% in Cyprus) in December 2022 (i.e. 19% more deaths than the average number of deaths for December in the period 2016 - 2019) according to Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
This is the highest rate of additional mortality recorded in the EU in 2022, and is a significant increase from November when it stood at +8%.
In the case of Cyprus, the additional mortality rate decreased significantly compared to November when it stood at +28% (+14% in May, +11% in June, +16% in August and +14% in September).
Compared to previous years, the additional mortality rate stood at +27% in Cyprus and +30% in the EU in December 2020, and +28% in Cyprus and +24% in the EU in December 2021.
In December 2022, the additional mortality rate varied significantly between Member States. Romania and Bulgaria (both -6%) recorded rates below the national monthly average for the period 2016 - 2019, while Hungary (+3%), Luxembourg, Spain and Malta (all +10%) recorded rates below half the EU average.
On the other hand, the highest index was recorded in Germany (+37%). Other countries with indicators above +20% were Austria (+27%), Slovenia (+26%), Ireland and France (both +25%), Czechia, the Netherlands and Estonia (all +23%), Denmark (+22%) and Finland and Lithuania (both +21%).
The EU had recorded high rates of additional deaths in April 2020 (+25%), November 2020 (+40%), April 2021 (+21%) and November 2021 (+27%).
July 2022 also recorded a higher number of deaths than average, possibly due to the heat waves that affected parts of Europe at the time.
