Last year, Austria saw the first drop in the number of deaths since the start of the corona pandemic in 2020. Statistics Austria reported this on Monday based on preliminary data. Previously, deaths had increased every year. So far, 88,321 deaths have been reported for 2023. The life expectancy of women increased by 0.42 years and that of men by 0.32 years.
“Nevertheless, the number of deaths remains above average, even if the aging of the population is taken into account,” analyzed Tobias Thomas, Managing Director of Statistics Austria. “By 2023, life expectancy for women will return to pre-pandemic levels at 84.20 years, while that of men will be slightly lower at 79.37 years,” namely 0.17 years.
Corona caused increased mortality
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of deaths has initially increased continuously: in 2019 there were 83,386 deaths, in the first Corona year 2020 there were 91,599, in 2021 there were 91,962 deaths and in 2022 there were 93,332 .
“In 2023, deaths fell again for the first time and based on the available preliminary results, approximately 5,000 fewer people died than in 2022,” the Austrian Statistical Office reported. This is a minus of 5.4 percent. Yet the level remains high: “Compared to the average over the five years before the corona pandemic (2015 to 2019), 6.6 percent more people died in 2023,” the experts calculated.
Lower increase even without Covid
However, due to the aging population, an increase would be expected even without Covid. The population forecast drawn up in the autumn of 2019 expected 86,104 deaths in 2023. This value has now been exceeded by 2.6 percent.
The final data for 2023 will be slightly higher; individual late reports and deaths abroad are currently missing. Experience shows that there would be approximately 1,500 to 2,000 additional cases. The final number will probably be around 90,000.
More deaths in winter
Most deaths were recorded at the beginning of the year, with 2,365 deaths in calendar week 1 (January 2 to 8, 2023) and 2,123 deaths in calendar week 2 (January 9 to 15). In 2023, only more than 2,000 people died in one week in week 51 (18 to 24 December) with 2,066 cases. Deaths tended to be lower in the warm season, with the fewest deaths at 1,407 and 1,408 in calendar weeks 35 (August 28 to September 3) and 26 (June 26 to July 2), respectively.
Source: Krone
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