The new report, published Monday 7 June, indicates that the number of deaths in 2020 was significant, with 4,609 deaths (94.7% of which took place in Luxembourg) from all causes, 326 more than in 2019.
The mortality rate observed in 2020 is the highest recorded for about ten years. The increase in deaths was slightly more pronounced for men and mainly concerns people aged over 75.
Prior to the first recorded death from COVID-19 (March 13, 2020), mortality in 2020 followed earlier trends shown in years previous.
Luxembourg, like many other countries, has experienced declining mortality over the decades. This lower mortality at the start of 2020 is mainly due to a particularly mild winter that did not experience a real flu outbreak. This was especially true for the month of February and the first half of March.
The number of deaths occurring between January and mid-March was 899 in 2020, compared to 1,072 in 2018 and 966 in 2019. This lower number of deaths is in part due to the fact that the month of February 2020 (330 deaths recorded) experienced a lower mortality compared to previous years, especially since this month had an additional day, 2020 being a leap year. There is a decrease of - 26.5% compared to 2018 (449 deaths in February 2018) and -16.4% compared to 2019 (395 deaths in February 2019).
However, since the declaration of the first death due to COVID-19 and the end of December 2020, STATEC has counted 3,749 deaths, which corresponds to an average excess of deaths of 438 compared to the two previous years (3,350 deaths for this period in 2019 and 3,272 in 2018).
This additional number of deaths largely coincides with the number of deaths officially due to COVID-19 during this period in Luxembourg.
The mortality rate is 7.3 % in 2020 and is the highest in recent years. In fact, we would have to go back to the beginning of the 2010s to find a comparable mortality rate.
The death rate observed in 2020 may have been even higher if we had experienced a serious rise in Flu cases in early 2020.
During the first quarter of 2021, STATEC recorded 1,223 deaths: 440 deaths in January 2021, 362 in February and 421 in March. The number of deaths recorded here is higher than that recorded during the 1st quarter of 2020 (1,125 deaths, + 8.7%) but lower than the figures for 2018.
This increase is also to be linked to the population growth which is 1.4 % during this period.
Calculated on an annual basis in order to better understand the impact of COVID-19, life expectancy at birth is decreased in 2020 compared to 2019.
In 2020, life expectancy at birth is birth for women is 85.3 years and 80.1 years for men. Compared to 2019, this life expectancy has decreased by 0.3 years for men and 0.7 years for women.
