Global Excess Deaths Associated with COVID-19, January 2020 - December 2021

The monitoring of excess mortality provides us with a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of COVID-19 beyond the number of COVID-19 deaths reported by countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) is tracking global excess mortality as the pandemic evolves over time to reveal a picture of its full impact and burden on countries, health systems and individuals.

Excess mortality associated with COVID-19 is used to quantify the direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic. 'Excess mortality' is defined as the difference between the total number of deaths that have occurred and the number of deaths that would have been expected in the absence of the pandemic i.e. a no-COVID-19 scenario.