The excess death rate in the Netherlands was slightly higher last year than it was the year before. Nearly 171,000 people died in 2021, 16,000 more than expected Central Statistics Office On the basis of raw numbers. In 2020, 15,000 more people died than the average number before the Corona pandemic.

The excess death rate is the difference between the number of expected deaths (an average of about 150,000 each year) and the number of people who actually die. A year with excess mortality is more common, as in 2015 (5394) and 2018 (2478) when there was a severe flu wave. In Corona 2020 and 2021, the excess mortality rate was much higher.

More people died than expected in all age groups last year, but the 65- to 80-year-old group was relatively hardest hit, with a 14 percent increase in mortality. The difference with 2020 was larger in the 50-65 age group: 489 more deaths than expected in 2020 versus 1,641 in 2021.

Men are more than women

In the years leading up to the Corona pandemic, more women died each year because there were more older women. Last year, slightly more men died than women. The mortality rate for men was higher than expected at 11 percent, among women at 9 percent. In 2020, as many men have died as there are women.

Relatively more people died than expected in Flevoland (20 per cent), Zealand (16 per cent) and Limburg (14 per cent). A year earlier, Flevoland and Limburg were badly injured. Excess deaths were limited in Zealand at the time. Excess deaths were lowest in the GGD regions of Kenimerland and Amsterdam, at 6 percent.