Cyprus had highest EU excess mortality in November

The excess mortality rate in Cyprus in November 2022 was much higher than other EU countries, a Eurostat report published on Tuesday showed.

Excess mortality refers to the number of deaths from all causes measured during a crisis, above what would be observed in normal conditions.

According to the data, the excess rate in Cyprus stood at +24 per cent, the highest in the EU, where the average across the bloc was +6.7 per cent compared to the average number of deaths for the same period in 2016-2019.

Finland, with +21 per cent, followed Cyprus as the EU country with the highest excess mortality rate last November. On the other end of the spectrum were Romania, with -6 per cent, Bulgaria with -3 per cent and Slovakia with -2 per cent.

Furthermore, the EU estimate indicated a decrease from the previous month of October when excess mortality was at 10.6 per cent on average in the bloc. In absolute terms, however, there were around 25,000 additional deaths in November 2022.

In comparison, the excess mortality rate was +40 per cent in November 2020 (151,000 excess deaths) and +27 per cent in November 2021 (100,000 excess deaths).