Insee Focus · May 2022 · n° 268

In the East of the European Union, 28% more deaths in 2021 than in 2019

Between 2019 and 2021, deaths from all causes increased by 14% in the European Union (excluding Ireland). The increase was extremely sharp in Eastern European countries (+28%), which had been spared during the first wave of Covid-19 in spring 2020, but were hit hard afterwards, starting with the second wave at the end of 2020. In the southern European countries, excess deaths over 2019 was more limited in 2021 (+11%) than in 2020 (+15%). In France, the 8% increase in deaths in 2021, although very clear, was lower than the EU average. In 2020, France, with 9% more deaths than in 2019, was closer to the European average (11%).