Press release No. 500 of 11 December 2020
WIESBADEN – According to provisional results, at least 19,161 people died in Germany in Week 46 (9 to 15 November 2020). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that the death figures are by roughly 8% higher than the average of the years 2016 to 2019. Currently, the development of mortality figures is especially striking in the Land of Sachsen. Unlike in other Länder, the difference between the current figures and the average of previous years is increasing significantly there from week to week. In Week 41, deaths were still below average, while the number of cases was by 27% or 281 above average in Week 46.
Number of COVID-19 deaths is increasing markedly
The number of people who died and who had had laboratory confirmed COVID-19 disease is rising significantly from week to week. In Week 46, a total of 1,455 COVID-19 deaths were reported to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). That was 350 cases more than in the preceding week and 1,377 cases more than in KW 40.
| Week | Total number 2020 | Difference from Ø 2016-2019 average | COVID-19 deaths | Relative difference between total in 2020 and ... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ø 2016-2019 average | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | ||||
| number | percent | |||||||
| Sources: total death figures: Federal Statistical Office (as at 11 December 2020, COVID-19 deaths: Robert Koch Institute (as at 10 December 2020) | ||||||||
| Weeks1- 39 | 708,123 | +9,035 | 9,462 | +1 | +6 | +1 | -2 | +1 |
| Week 40 | 17,495 | +861 | 78 | +5 | +7 | +5 | +5 | +4 |
| Week 41 | 17,352 | -37 | 115 | 0 | 0 | -1 | +2 | -2 |
| Week 42 | 17,581 | +330 | 226 | +2 | 0 | +3 | +6 | -1 |
| Week 43 | 18,387 | +1,242 | 378 | +7 | +5 | +8 | +11 | +6 |
| Week 44 | 18,317 | +1,136 | 725 | +7 | +4 | +9 | +8 | +5 |
| Week 45 | 18,690 | +1,036 | 1,105 | +6 | +5 | +8 | +6 | +5 |
| Week 46 | 19,161 | +1,344 | 1,455 | +8 | +3 | +9 | +14 | +5 |
| Weeks 1- 46 | 835,106 | +14,947 | 13,544 | +2 | +5 | +2 | -1 | +1 |
Clear findings about excess mortality in other European countries
The EuroMOMO network for mortality monitoring currently reports extremely high excess mortality for Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Slovenia for Week 46. Very high excess or high excess mortality is reported for France, Austria, Portugal and Spain- For other European countries, EuroMOMO recorded no more than moderate excess mortality in that week.
Methodological notes on the mortality figures for Germany:
It is not yet possible to assess what impact the development of death figures to date will have on the entire year of 2020. The development in all of 2020 will have to be considered for a final assessment of temporary excess mortality. In addition, the number of deaths has to be placed in relation to the population to consider, for instance, the ageing process of the population in an adequate manner.
Based on the ad-hoc evaluation "Sterbefälle – Fallzahlen nach Tagen, Wochen, Monaten, Altersgruppen, Geschlecht und Bundesländern für Deutschland 2016 bis 2020" (Deaths – Number of cases by day, week, month, age group and Land for Germany, 2016 to 2020), users can carry out their own evaluations of how death figures developed over the year. First provisional data are provided for 2020. The provisional data are mere counts of the cases of death reported by the registrar's offices; the usual data plausibility and completeness checks have not been carried out.
Due to legal regulations concerning the reporting of deaths to the registrar’s offices and differences in the behaviour of registrar’s offices submitting data for official statistics, up-to-date information on the number of deaths can be provided with a delay of about four weeks. The results available for 2020 will increase slightly on account of late reporting.
The provisional mortality figures refer to the date of death, not the date on which a death was registered. As the reported COVID-19 deaths are also published by day of death by the RKI, the figures can be compared over time with the provisional total death figures.
More information:
For more information on the ad-hoc evaluation of day-to-day mortality figures please refer to the theme page "Deaths, life expectancy", the podcast "Sterbefallzahlen und Übersterblichkeit während der Corona-Pandemie” and the "Corona statistics" webpage of the Federal Statistical Office.
