Excess all-cause mortality and COVID-19 related mortality - a temporal analysis in 22 countries - January to August 2020

Sep 4, 2026

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Background: This study examines excess all-cause mortality and COVID-19 related mortality from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through August 2020 in 22 countries. Methods: Weekly or monthly all-cause mortality from January 2015 to mid-2020 was compared with a 2015-2019 baseline using two approaches to estimate excess. Results: Several countries reported excess all-cause mortality, while others showed decreased mortality; some findings differed by sex. Conclusion: Mortality increases were uneven across countries, influenced by geography, seasonality, and rapid stringency of control measures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatDOCX

Pages37

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

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Excess all-cause mortality and COVID-19 related mortality: a temporal analysis in 22 countries, from January until August 2020 Running title: Excess all-cause mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic Authors Achilleos, Souzana$ a; Quattrocchi, Annalisa$ a; Gabel, John b; Heraclides, Alexandros a; Kolokotroni, Ourania a; Constantinou, Constantina c; Pagola Ugarte, Maider b; Nicolaou, Nicoletta c; Rodriguez-Llanes, Jose Manuel d; Bennett, Catherine Marie e; Bogatyreva, Ekaterina e; Schernhammer, Eva f; Zimmermann, Claudia f; Costa, Antonio Jose Leal g; Lobato, Jackeline Christiane Pinto h; Fernandes, Ngibo Mubeta i; Semedo-Aguiar, Ana Paula j; Jaramillo Ramirez, Gloria Isabel k; Martin Garzon, Oscar Dario k; Mortensen, Laust Hvas l; Critchley, Julia A. m; Goldsmith, Lucy P. m; Denissov, Gleb n; Rüütel, Kristi o; Le Meur, Nolwenn p; Kandelaki, Levan q; Tsiklauri, Shorena r; O’Donnell, Joan s; Oza, Ajay s; Kaufman, Zalman t; Zucker, Inbar t,u ; Ambrosio, Giuseppe v, w; Stracci, Fabrizio v; Hagen, Terje P. x; Erzen, Ivan y; Klepac, Petra z; Arcos González, Pedro aa; Fernández Camporro, Ángel aa; Burström, Bo ab; Pidmurniak, Nataliia ac; Verstiuk, Olesia ac; Huang, Qian ad; Mehta, Neil Kishor e; Polemitis, Antonis af; Charalambous, Andreas b; Demetriou, Christiana A. a*; On behalf of the C-MOR consortium $joint first authors Affiliations a Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus bUniversity of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus cDepartment of Basic and Clinical Sciences, University of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus dEuropean Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy eSchool of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia fDepartment of Epidemiology, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria gInstitute of Studies in Collective Health (IESC), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil hDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Collective Health (ISC), Fluminense Federal University Niterói, Brasil iNational Health Observatory, National Institute of Public Health, Praia, Cape Verde jNature, Life and Environment Sciences Department, University Jean Piaget of Cape Verde, Praia, Cape Verde kMedicine Faculty, Cooperative University of Colombia, Villavicencio, Colombia lDepartment of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, Methods and Analysis, Statistics Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark mPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, London, UK nDepartment of Registries, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia oDepartment of Drug and Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia pUniversity of Rennes, EHESP, REPERES - EA 7449, F-35000 Rennes, France qNational Center for Disease Control and Public Health, Tbilisi, Georgia rNational Statistics Office of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia sHSE-Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Dublin, Ireland tIsrael Center of Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Ramat Gan, Israel uFaculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel vDepartment of Medicine, University of Perugia School of Medicine, Perugia, Italy wCERICLET- Interdepartmental Center for Clinical and Translational Research, University of Perugia School of Medicine, Perugia, Italy xDepartment of Health Management and Health Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway yPublic health School, National Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia zCommunicable diseases, National Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia aaDepartment of Medicine, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain abDepartment of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden acBogomolets National Medical University, Faculty of Medicine 2, Kyiv, Ukraine adSC Center for Rural and Primary Health Care & Department of Geography, University of South Carolina, Columbia SC, USA aeDepa

FAQs

What was the objective of the study regarding mortality?

The study aimed to investigate overall and sex-specific excess all-cause mortality from the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic until August 2020 across 22 countries.

How was excess mortality for 2020 calculated?

Excess mortality was calculated by comparing 2020 weekly or monthly observed deaths against a baseline derived from 2015–2019 for the same week or month using two methods.

What factors were suggested to explain differences in mortality changes across countries?

Geographical location and seasonality, together with prompt application of high stringency control measures, were suggested as potential explanations for the observed variability.

Sep 4, 2026

Upload by Gloria