BRUSSELS

More than 450,000 excess deaths occurred in the European Union between March and November 2020, according to a report published by the bloc’s statistical office on Tuesday.

“In spring 2020, the number of deaths in the EU started to rise rapidly due to COVID-19: in some parts of Europe, deaths were exceptionally high, when compared with the average mortality of previous years,” Eurostat said.

“In total, over 450 000 more deaths occurred in the EU between March and November 2020 compared with the same period in 2016-2019.”
The first peak of excess mortality was seen in April when EU states registered 25.1% more deaths than previous years, the report said.

Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands saw a notable rise in fatalities in April, with an excess death rate of 79.4%, 73.9%, and 53.6%, respectively.
The highest toll came in November as the excess mortality rate shot up to 40.4%, Eurostat data showed.

The fall peak was mainly due to the sudden rise of COVID-19 deaths in Eastern European countries.

According to the report, Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovenia had an excess death rate of over 90% during this period, followed by the Czech Republic at 76.8%, Romania at 63.5%, and Hungary at 56.8%.