Australia: COVID-19 accounts for more than half of excess deaths in 2022
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Dec 2022
Excess deaths for the first seven months of 2022 were over 13,700, or 14% more than predicted, according to Australia’s Actuaries Institute. In the month of July, excess deaths were 16% more than predicted.
Applying its model to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on 27 October, the institute’s COVID-19 Mortality Working Group estimates that around half of the ‘excess deaths’ during those seven months were due to COVID-19. A further 1,700 deaths were in people who had COVID-19 listed as a contributory cause of death.
There are multiple factors potentially causing the ‘non-COVID-19’ excess deaths over this period including: Post-COVID-19 sequelae (conditions arising from COVID); delayed deaths from other causes; delays in emergency care; delays in routine care; and increased use of drugs and alcohol. “Different factors may be more or less pronounced at various times,” said Actuaries Institute spokesperson for the COVID-19 Mortality Working Group Karen Cutter. “It isn’t possible to identify from the data whether any or all of these issues are causing the non-COVID-19 excess deaths.”
At an estimated 9,800 deaths to the end of October 2022, COVID-19 is predicted to be the third leading cause of death for 2022. The COVID-19 Mortality Working Group releases detailed modelling each month. M