Croatia records 35 pct excess deaths in May 2021 due to Covid-19

Excess mortality is one of the main epidemiological and demographic indicators that signal an increase in the number of deaths in an area. It is most frequently expressed as a departure in the number of deaths in relation to the previous year or a five-year average so a certain number of deaths can be attributed to the appearance of a disease, in this case Covid-19.

The excess mortality consists of at least three components - deaths attributable to coronavirus, deaths caused by un-diagnosed Covid-19, and deaths as a consequence of disruptions in the work of health institutions.

"The increased mortality, that is, excess deaths, in May 2021, can to the largest extent be attributed to Covid-19 deaths. In May 2021 the number of deaths was by 1,359 deaths or around 35 percent higher than in May 2020. If the average in the period from 2015 to 2019 is taken as the measure of comparison for the same month, the number of excess deaths is lower - according to final data on deaths from the national statistical office, there were 1,014 more deaths in May 2021 compared to the 2015-19 average for the same month, which is an increase of some 24 percent," said an assistant lecturer at the Zagreb Faculty of Economics, Darko Mustac.

"In May 2021, 945 persons died of Covid-19. That means that the 93 percent excess mortality can be attributed to Covid-19 deaths. A direct comparison only with May 2020 may therefore not be the best indicator of the actual excess mortality because that May had the lowest number of deaths in the last 40 years. That was probably owing to epidemiological restrictions in force in May 2020, which made people act more responsibly, thus protecting their own and others' health," Mustac said in an interview with Jutarnji List.