The INSEE has verified the persistence of a clear excess mortality in France in 2022 compared to a “normal” year (excluding epidemics or unusual events), which the Covid cannot explain, according to figures published this Tuesday by the Institute of Statistics .
For the INSEE, 675,000 people died in France in 2022, or 53,800 more deaths than expected, given the age of the population and the trends registered in the previous 10 or 15 years.
The deviation from the forecast (+8.7%) is greater than that observed in 2021 (+6.9%) and in 2020 (+7.8%), the year in which the Covid epidemic broke out.
Flu and heat in question
However, Covid 19 killed far fewer people in 2022, with 38,300 dead compared to 59,100 in 2021, according to figures from Public Health France.
“Therefore, deaths from causes other than Covid-19 have increased”, indicates the INSEE, which mentions “the two flu epidemics” of March-April and December 2022, and also the high temperatures during the summer of 2022.
“Finally, the Covid 19 epidemic may have caused an increase in deaths since 2020 due to indirect effects, such as postponements of operations or reductions in the detection of other diseases”, indicates the INSEE.
A structural evolution?
The French population may also be facing a more structural development, with a brake on the gains in life expectancy that were observed each year, explains the INSEE.
“There may also be an interruption or a pause” in the downward trend in mortality “but without it being possible to identify it yet,” says the institute.
Source: BFM TV
