Excess mortality in the EU in November 2021 was +27% in comparison with the 2016-19 period, but with big variations between the member states, Eurostat said on Friday.

November saw the highest excess mortality in 2021. The EU registered previous peaks in excessive deaths in April 2020 (+25%) and November 2020 (+40%).

Bulgaria had the highest excess mortality, with 88% more people dying in November 2021 when compared with the averages of the same months in 2016-19. Romania followed with an 84% excess mortality. Sweden registered 0.5% fewer deaths, while Italy registered 4% more.

There is no data for Croatia for November 2021. In October, it had a 22.2% excess mortality when compared with the 2016-19 pre-pandemic period. The EU average that month was 17.7%.

According to Eurostat, Croatia registered the highest excess mortality in December 2020 (+60.6%), when the EU average was 29.6%.