In the aftermath of the corona pandemic, there is often talk of excess mortality: Did people actually die earlier because of the virus than expected?
That depends entirely on which region you are looking at, say researchers from the Federal Institute for Population Research and the French Institute for Demographic Studies. They evaluated excess mortality for 569 regions in 25 European countries for 2020 and 2021.
According to the study, which was published on Wednesday, there is a clear divide between East and West in Germany. In Thuringia and parts of Saxony, people died on average 1.5 to two years earlier in these two years than life expectancy would have suggested. In West Germany – with the exception of some areas in Bavaria – the excess mortality is less than one year. In parts of North and West Germany, the researchers even registered an under-mortality rate for 2020.
The situation is similar in Italy: In some areas in the north of the country, including the city of Bergamo, which was particularly badly affected by Corona in February 2020, there was an excess mortality rate of just over four years. In parts of southern Italy, however, no increased death rate was measurable, according to the study.
If we look at the whole of Europe, it is mainly the Eastern European countries, including Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, as well as parts of Poland and the Czech Republic, that recorded an increase in excess mortality from 2021 onwards. Men were comparatively more affected than women.
The researchers explain the differences, among other things, by the fact that “the proportion of vulnerable people” varies from region to region. In other words, where young people move away and older people stay, more people belong to the corona risk group.
But age is not the only decisive factor. Risky behavior such as smoking, alcohol consumption and lack of exercise also contribute to people dying earlier than expected. According to the researchers, a lack of trust in the state and failure to comply with protective measures such as social distancing also play a role when it comes to excess mortality. This trust may be less strong in countries with a communist past.
