Researchers have analyzed the areas of Europe where excess mortality was highest during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
In France, the Paris region is the one that has lost the most life expectancy at birth.
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Covid-19: Life with the virus
Nearly five years after the appearance of Covid-19 in China, Europe continues to take stock of the pandemic. In France, according to data from June 2023 by Public Health France, more than 167,000 people have died from this disease. A total of deaths that causes life expectancy at birth to plummet in the country. According to a study released this Tuesday by the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED), residents of certain French departments lost more than a year of life expectancy when the virus appeared.
This is particularly the case for those in the Paris region, including Seine-Saint-Denis. The department with the highest poverty rate in mainland France is the one that was most affected by excess mortality in 2020, the year the virus appeared in Europe. According to the authors, between one and a half and two years of life expectancy were lost in the Paris region, as in the departments located near the German border. The west of the country, “was spared”notes the INED. Some territories have even continued to gain in life expectancy.
Seine-Saint-Denis, the most affected department
In 2021, the pandemic continued at high intensity and, this time, affected the entire territory more evenly. “Life expectancy losses were generally close to one year” throughout the country, continues the INED. The fact remains that Seine-Saint-Denis still ranked first among the French departments with the highest excess mortality.
In this work, the authors divided Europe into 569 territories of comparable size (equivalent to a department in France). They concluded that in 2020, excess mortality was highest in the regions of northern Italy, the country where the pandemic was born in Europe that same year. Up to four years of life expectancy were calculated there, according to the researchers, who note that excess mortality was concentrated the following year in Eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia).
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Overall, Seine-Saint-Denis ranks 81st, the highest for a French department. Val-d’Oise appears at 115th place, while Essonne is at 130th. “All other departments are located beyond the 150th place”concludes the Ined.
