Excess mortality refers to the number of deaths from all causes measured during a defined period, above that which was observed in the baseline period. The excess mortality indicator takes the number of deaths from any cause in a given period and compares it with a historical baseline from previous years – in a period that was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this case, the baseline consists of the average number of deaths that occurred in each month during the period 2016-2019. The higher the value, the higher the number of additional deaths compared with the baseline. A negative indicator shows that fewer deaths occurred in a particular month compared with the baseline period.
In May 2024, excess mortality in the European Union as a whole slightly increased to 1.6% % above the baseline. In comparison, the indicator was -0.6 % in April 2024. According to the weekly death statistics, during May 2024, approximately 5 847 additional deaths were recorded compared with the average number of deaths for the same period in 2016-2019 (baseline). For comparison, in May 2023, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, excess mortality stood at 3.6 % (11 831 additional deaths).
However, Latvia bucked the trend of increased mortality. The excess mortality rate was negative in 11 EU countries: the lowest rates of all were recorded in Bulgaria (-10.9 %), Latvia (-9.8 %), Lithuania (-7.2 %), Croatia (-6.0 %) and Slovakia (-4.9 %).
On the other hand, 15 EU countries registered excess deaths: the highest rates were observed in Malta (14.6 %), the Netherlands (12.6 %), Ireland (10.7 %), Portugal (8.4 %) and Austria (7.3 %).
Latvia's excess mortality rate has been negative since the start of the year, and in April was as high as -15.1%. In May 2024 there were 2,103 deaths registered in Latvia, 663 of them in Rīga.
