Life Expectancy Remains a Crucial Indicator in Understanding Pandemic’s Impact on Mortality Rates in Europe

In the early stages of the pandemic, Finland and Iceland experienced under-mortality. Recent statistics from Eurostat indicate that life expectancy in over 18 European Union countries has returned to pre-pandemic levels, except for Finland. According to THL’s research professor Mika Gissler, mortality rates for individuals over 70 were significantly higher during the corona wave in November-December of the previous year, leading to a decline in life expectancy in Finland in 2021.

However, there have been improvements in life expectancy in Finland in 2022, suggesting a decline in the mortality rate back to pre-corona levels. Despite this progress, life expectancy is still 0.4 years shorter than it was in 2019 due to high numbers of elderly deaths during the pandemic. In contrast, Iceland saw a decrease in age-standardized mortality during the early stages of the pandemic, leading to under-mortality. However, this trend may have contributed to increased mortality rates observed in 2022 and 2023 due to delayed but not reversed death of elderly individuals impacting overall mortality rates.

Different countries have seen varying effects of the pandemic on mortality rates. Iceland’s young population and early containment measures led to lower mortality rates while Finland’s rapidly aging population faced greater challenges. It is important to consider how corona deaths impact life expectancy among older age groups when analyzing population mortality trends caused by the pandemic.

Last year’s data from Eurostat shows that life expectancy is 81.7 years for Finns and 82.6 years for Icelanders. Despite increases in life expectancy seen in some countries like Romania, disparities exist between Western and Eastern European nations with Western Europeans living several years longer on average than their Eastern European counterparts.

Overall, life expectancy remains a crucial indicator for understanding population mortality trends over time as it reflects changes occurring within a country or region due to various factors such as healthcare systems or socioeconomic conditions.