NEW DELHI: The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an estimated 22.1 million excess deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2023, significantly surpassing the officially reported seven million deaths attributed to Covid-19, as outlined in the World Health Statistics 2026 report from the World Health Organization (WHO). The agency noted that these figures represent nearly a decade’s worth of decline in global life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by 2021, describing the situation as a “setback of historic proportions” for global health systems.
According to the report, global life expectancy decreased by 1.8 years and healthy life expectancy fell by 1.5 years from 2019 to 2021, marking one of the sharpest reversals in recent decades. The excess mortality peaked in 2021, with 10.4 million additional deaths reported as healthcare systems faced unprecedented stress. Excess deaths then declined to 4.9 million in 2022 and 3.3 million in 2023, although WHO cautioned that the recovery remains uneven, with several countries yet to revert to their pre-pandemic health trajectories.
The WHO defines excess deaths as fatalities exceeding expected levels during a specific period, encompassing both direct Covid-related deaths and indirect deaths stemming from disruptions to healthcare services and delays in treatment. The report revealed that men were disproportionately impacted, with age-standardised excess mortality approximately 50% higher among men than women at the pandemic’s peak in 2021. Older adults, especially those over the age of 85, experienced the highest mortality burden.
Additionally, the WHO highlighted significant weaknesses in global mortality surveillance that were exposed during the pandemic. Of an estimated 61 million deaths globally in 2023, only about 21 million were officially reported to the WHO with cause-of-death information, and merely 12 million had medically certified ICD-coded mortality data.
The agency also pointed out that the pandemic severely disrupted essential health services around the world, including vaccination efforts, tuberculosis and HIV services, and treatment for non-communicable diseases. This disruption significantly contributed to indirect deaths during the pandemic period. In a previous analysis conducted in 2022, the WHO estimated that India accounted for approximately 4.74 million excess deaths between 2020 and 2021, a figure that has been disputed by the Indian government.
The report further cautioned about the slowing progress toward universal health coverage, increases in healthcare-related poverty, and a decline in global health funding following the pandemic.
