Why is January 3 the deadliest day of the year?

We wouldn’t want to spoil the mood, but since we’re all going to die one day, let’s know that, statistically, this mysterious day falls more often on January 3. But why? For Tristan Falabrègue, funeral professional, the January peak is well known. It is seasonal. “We see that in the month of January, we have around 50% more activity, particularly linked to the viral load that we can have during the winter period”he explains.

January, yes, but why the 3rd? With 1,900 deaths, or 19% more than the average, this disastrous day has been the same for around twenty years according to INSEE. Peak in January, trough in summer, and only hypotheses to explain the most fragile excess mortality these days. “The holiday period is a time that can motivate certain people to stay alive until that time, and therefore postpone death a little, particularly for older people who may be at the end of their lives”underlines Chloé Tavan, head of the demographic surveys and studies division of INSEE. Another hypothesis is the resumption, on January 3, of scheduled surgical operations.

Watch the full report in the video above.