Excess Covid Deaths by Country 2024

At this point, the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently impacted human society in more ways than one. However, the most sobering outcome is undoubtedly the overwhelming number of deaths worldwide. In fact, a country’s average rate of excess COVID deaths is considered one of the key determiners of the pandemic’s overall impact on that nation and its people.

Here’s a closer look at some of the countries that reported particularly high numbers of COVID-19 deaths, as well as some possible factors that may have contributed to those numbers.

Countries with the Most Excess COVID Deaths

The term “excess mortality” refers to any and all deaths that may have occurred during a particular period over and above what would have been considered typical levels otherwise.

Although the number of actual deaths attributed directly to COVID is also important, excess mortality rates can better indicate the overall impact of the pandemic as an event. That said, the following are the counties with the highest rates as of 2023:

Potential Factors Contributing to Excess COVID Deaths by Country

Although every country in the world suffered serious loss of life due to the pandemic, some countries lost more people than others. Factors like the following are potential contributors to consider. Countries with more robust healthcare systems and greater numbers of facilities were better equipped to handle the potential impact of a pandemic than others, resulting in fewer overall excess deaths. Larger, more densely populated countries – such as Brazil, India, and so forth – faced a special set of challenges when it came to keeping COVID contained. In general, the virus spread much more rapidly in areas where large crowds and densely populated areas were more common. Additional contributing factors may include but are not limited to age demographics within a country, vaccination response, and prevalence of virus mutations.