There were no excess deaths in Ireland between 2020 and 2022, the core of the pandemic, the Department of Health said, citing new research.
The report cited a new Working Paper from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which found that Ireland was one of nine OECD countries to avoid excess deaths during this period, including New Zealand, Iceland and Norway. This shows that the country had the fourth lowest mortality rate after that. .
The OECD said the report represents preliminary results or ongoing research.
Excess mortality refers to the number of deaths from any cause over a given period of time that exceeds what would normally be expected.
The OECD measured the difference between the number of people expected to die between 2020 and 2022 and the number of people expected to die during that period if the pandemic had not occurred.
The excess deaths include people who died from COVID-19 without being tested, as well as people who died from other illnesses.
The Ministry of Health said previous estimates of excess deaths during the pandemic did not take into account changes in population size and demographics here.
Ireland’s total population grew by 8% between the 2016 and 2022 censuses, and the number of people aged 65 and over grew by 22% over the same period.
The Department said that after adjusting mortality rates to account for these changes, Ireland recorded no excess deaths between 2020 and 2022, indicating that Ireland’s mortality rate was lower than expected.
The OECD figures are based on data from the Central Statistical Office.
The OECD report states that the data for 2021-2022 is provisional and subject to change.
Death registration is delayed in occurring as the statutory time limit for death registration in Ireland is three months.
It also said that Ireland’s General Registration Office had been shut down following a cyber attack by health officials in May 2021. Therefore, at that time it was not possible to register births, deaths, and marriages.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the figures demonstrate the success of Ireland’s public health measures and the strong uptake of its vaccination programme.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Breda Smith said the OECD working paper highlighted some of the key caveats related to previously published estimates of excess deaths during the core phase of the pandemic.
To date, 9,366 probable and probable deaths from coronavirus infection have been recorded in Ireland.
Between 2020 and 2022, OECD countries recorded an additional 6 million deaths compared to the pre-pandemic years.
The OECD now has near-complete data on deaths by age and sex for almost all OECD countries, providing a better understanding of the overall trends and differences in mortality rates across the OECD over the three years of the pandemic. He said it was now possible to conduct a proper investigation. .