GENEVA - The UK had a lower excess death rate as a result of Covid-19 than Italy, Germany and Spain, according to new data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The latest figures also show that between January 2020 and December 2021, coronavirus caused almost three times more deaths worldwide than previously reported, putting the total international death toll at just short of 15 million people.

WHO figures

According to the latest data from the WHO, the UK had 109 excess deaths per 100,000 people per year over the two-year period since Covid-19 began spreading. This compares with 133 for Italy, 116 in Germany and 111 in Spain. Some European nations had lower death rates than the UK, including France (63) and Ireland (29).

Some countries’ reported death tolls varied wildly from the WHO’s estimate. For instance, the Indian government claimed it has suffered fewer than 500,000 extra deaths, but the WHO said that the real figure was nearly five million.

In contrast, the UK government had estimated about 150,000 excess deaths and the WHO’s calculation was virtually the same.

Sweden, which shunned most lockdown restrictions and had an excess death rate of 56 per 100,000, has also been vindicated by the data.

Pandemic response

Some have said the data from the WHO vindicates the UK government’s response to the pandemic, arguing that the nation’s death rate is comparable to other nations’.

The Daily Mail said the stats contradict “widely-publicised claims by zealous scientists and MPs” that the UK “endured one of the biggest death tolls on the continent”, adding that these “doom-mongers” were trying to encourage “tougher restrictions”.