Press release No. 109 of 9 March 2021
WIESBADEN – According to extrapolated figures of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 81,746 people died in Germany in February 2021. This is 3%, or 2,632 cases, below the average of years 2017 to 2020 for that month. Already in the last week of February (22 to 28 February), death figures were by 11%, or 2,266 cases, below the four-year average for Week 8. This is shown by a special evaluation of provisional death figures. Applying an extrapolation method to incomplete reports allows to release first death figures for Germany already after roughly one week.
Number of COVID-19 deaths continues to fall
A comparison of total deaths with the number of COVID-19 deaths reported to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is currently possible up to Week 6 of 2021 (8 to 14 February). In that week, there were 2,396 COVID-19 deaths, according to the RKI. This means that the figure was down by 666 on the preceding week.
Total death figures continued to decrease in Week 6; they were by 458 cases, or 2%, above the average of the preceding four years.
| Week | Total number 2021 | Difference from Ø 2017-2020 | COVID-19 Deaths | Relative difference from … | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ø 2017-2020 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | ||||
| number | % | |||||||
| Sources: total death figures: Federal Statistical Office (as at 8 March 2021), COVID-19 deaths: Robert Koch Institute (as at 5 March 2021) | ||||||||
| Week 1 | 24.642 | +5.180 | 5.354 | +27 | +18 | +27 | +32 | +30 |
| Week 2 | 24.289 | +4.429 | 4.873 | +22 | +10 | +29 | +27 | +25 |
| Week 3 | 23.960 | +4.267 | 4.569 | +22 | +13 | +25 | +25 | +25 |
| Week 4 | 22.532 | +2.606 | 3.887 | +13 | +2 | +18 | +16 | +19 |
| Week 5 | 21.631 | +923 | 3.062 | +4 | -8 | +11 | +9 | +9 |
| Week 6 | 20.920 | +458 | 2.396 | +2 | -8 | +4 | +5 | +10 |
| Week 7 | 20.345 | -593 | . | -3 | -10 | -4 | +1 | +3 |
| Week 8 | 18.850 | -2.266 | . | -11 | -15 | -18 | -7 | -1 |
| Weeks 1 - 8 | 177.169 | +15.002 | . | +9 | 0 | +11 | +13 | +15 |
Unusually mild flu wave explains below-average death figures
According to the current weekly influenza report of the RKI, the activity of other respiratory diseases which usually is connected with a rise of death figures at the beginning of a year has been at an unprecedented low level this winter. Especially in 2017 and 2018, death figures were markedly higher than usual in the first months of the year due to serious flu epidemics. These developments are also reflected by the average of total death figures across the previous years. They explain why total death figures in February fell below the average of previous years despite the new COVID-19 deaths.
Excess mortality below 30% in all Länder in early February
At the Länder level, mortality figures can currently be shown up to Week 5 of 2021 (1 to 7 February). In that week, no Land had death figures that were by over 30% above the average of the four preceding years. In the last week of January (25 to 31 January), that threshold had been exceeded in Thüringen (+38%), Sachsen-Anhalt (+36%) and Sachsen (+31%). In the first week of February, death figures in Sachsen-Anhalt (+25% or 174 cases), Sachsen (+23% or 273 cases) and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (+23% or 104 cases) were at least 20% above the 2017-2020 average. In Thüringen (+17% or 115 cases), Brandenburg (+15% or 105 cases) and Berlin (+11% or 88 cases), the figures were at least 10% above that average - in all other Länder, the differences from the average were smaller in the first week of February.
A graphical overview of the development of mortality figures in all Länder is available here.
Low excess mortality in Estonia, Portugal and the Netherlands
The EuroMOMO network for mortality monitoring compares findings about excess mortality across Europe using another approach. Based on its own extrapolation of incomplete data reports, the network also has first figures up to the last week of February, which may change due to late reporting. For Week 8 (22 to 28 February), EuroMOMO currently reports low excess mortality for Estonia, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Methodological notes on the mortality figures for Germany:
The 2020 and 2021 ad hoc evaluation is based on first provisional data (raw data). These 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 routines of registrar’s offices submitting data for official statistics, these data are still incomplete.
Because of the high relevance of timely mortality figures during the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Statistical Office has developed an estimation model for the extrapolation of incomplete data. The model allows to provide nationwide mortality figures already after roughly one week. The mortality figures of the last nine weeks are extrapolated using the figures so far submitted by the registrar’s offices. Therefore the figures can be slightly higher or lower at a later time. The estimate is based on the patterns observed in reporting delays in the past, which differ in part considerably between regions. Comparable results for the Länder are therefore not available earlier than after roughly four weeks.
The relevant notes in the ad hoc evaluation "Sterbefälle – Fallzahlen nach Tagen, Wochen, Monaten, Altersgruppen, Geschlecht und Bundesländern für Deutschland 2016 bis 2021" (Deaths – Number of cases by day, week, month, age group, sex and Land for Germany, 2016 to 2021) provide more detailed information on the extrapolation procedure. The tables also permit analyses of your own.
Periods of excess mortality in the course of a year can be identified on the basis of the provisional death figures. This reveals direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on death figures at an early point in time. For that purpose, we compare the figures with the average of the four preceding years – as does the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) – to account for the varying impact of recurring seasonal effects (for instance due to flue or heat waves). This means that the deaths of 2020 are related to the average of the years 2016 to 2019 and the deaths of 2021 to the 2017-2020 average. The impact of the rising life expectancy and the increasing proportion of older people on the number of deaths to be expected cannot be considered by this comparison.
From March 2020, the figures can be interpreted only in the light of the measures taken to contain the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to preventing COVID-19 deaths, the measures and the change of behaviour may have contributed to reducing the number of deaths from other infectious diseases such as the flu, which also has an impact on the difference from the average. Decreases or increases in the number of deaths from other causes may also have an effect on total deaths. The mortality figures, however, do not provide information on the incidence of individual causes of death.
To give a final evaluation of the mortality development, the number of deaths is then placed in relation to the actual population in order to consider, for instance, the ageing process of the population in an adequate manner. The final results required for this, including all deaths reported late, are generally available by the middle of the following year, that is by mid-2021 for 2020. A first assessment is given in press release no. 044 of 29 January 2021.
The provisional mortality figures refer to the date of death, not the date on which a death was registered. As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) currently publishes the reported COVID-19 deaths by death date until Week 6 of 2021, these can presently be compared until that week with the provisional total death figures. This RKI evaluation refers to the number of people who died and had had laboratory confirmed COVID-19 disease. This does not include cases for which no data or implausible data on the date of death were reported. The results have not been corrected yet for late reporting and are expected to increase due to late reports.
More information:
The Federal Statistical Office provides more information on the ad hoc evaluation of mortality figures on its "Deaths, life expectancy" theme page and its "Corona statistics" webpage.
