There are dramatic differences between EU Member States in terms of excess mortality during the coronavirus pandemic. Euronews examined Eurostat mortality data from the first two years of the pandemic and found that the difference between countries that fared better or worse was more than four points.
The worst results were for the Eastern European Member States. Bulgaria had a death rate above 30%, but Poland, Slovakia, Romania and the Czech Republic also had rates above 20%. At the other end of the scale are the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Sweden and Finland have death rates above 7%.
Official statistics already put the number of victims of the pandemic in the EU at more than one million, but excess mortality figures suggest that the reality could be even worse. According to Eurostat, life expectancy at birth fell from 81.3 to 80.4 years in the EU as a result of the pandemic.
–
