Ireland had no excess deaths during the core pandemic years of 2020-2022, the Department of Health has said, citing new research.
It cites a new ‘Working Paper’ from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showing that Ireland was one of nine OECD countries to avoid excess deaths during this period, registering the fourth lowest rate behind New Zealand, Iceland and Norway.
The OECD said its report represents preliminary results or research in progress.
Excess deaths refer to the number of deaths from all causes during a period of time, above what would normally be expected.
The OECD measured the difference between the number of people who would have died between 2020 and 2022 and the number of people who would have been expected to die during that time, if the pandemic had not happened.
Excess death figures include those who died from Covid-19 without having been tested as well as from other illnesses.
The Department of Health said that previous estimates of excess deaths during the pandemic did not take into account changes in population size and demographics here.
Ireland’s total population rose by 8% between the 2016 and 2022 census and the number of people aged 65 and over increased by 22% during the same period.
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