The UK saw one of the biggest jumps in deaths of any European country - and one of the worst in the world - during the Covid pandemic, startling new analysis shows.
Between March 2020 and February 2023, the number of people dying from all causes was 5% higher than in the years before the Covid crisis struck.
And in the first 12 months of the pandemic this figure was even higher, with official data showing it was 15% above the normal rate.
This was higher than France, Germany and Spain, but less than the US and Poland - which recorded over 10% more people dying than usual.
In the early days of the pandemic, amid questions about whether each country was recording Covid deaths consistently, experts said this was the best measure of the impact the virus had.
How many more people died in the UK compared to normal?
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, more than 1.77 million people died in England and Wales between March 9, 2020, and February 26 this year.
This is a huge 176,083 above the five-year average, statisticians found.
In that period Covid-19 was mentioned on 194,866 death certificates, analysis of ONS data found.
According to research by World In Data, in May 2020 the number of people dying was 20% above the five-year average.
How does this compare to the rest of the world?
Excess deaths were certainly high over this period, particularly compared to some of our nearest neighbours.
But tragically countries such as Brazil, Mexico and the US were hit even harder.
Not all countries reported reliable data, but this interactive map will give some idea how the UK compares.
The bar at the bottom can be moved to show excess deaths across the world at different points of the Covid crisis.
Analysis by the BBC found that the UK's excess death rate was higher than that of France and Germany, but significantly lower than the US.
Which countries recorded the most Covid deaths?
According to figures collated by governments across the world, just five countries have a higher Covid death toll than the UK.
That needs to be taken with a pinch of salt however.
At the height of the crisis there were concerns about the way differnt nations recorded deaths from coronavirus, and whether some nations - for instance China - were unrecording cases.
But according to official figures, these are the 10 nations with the highest Covid death tolls.
- USA - 1,167,614
- Brazil - 703,719
- India - 531,900
- Russia - 399,436
- Mexico - 334,292
- UK - 226,278
- Peru - 220,695
- Italy - 190,706
- Germany - 174,352
- France - 167,593
Why are excess deaths significant?
As mentioned above, comparison between nations of Covid deaths is tricky.
There's no guarantee that everyone is reporting fully, or that classifications are consistent, meaning figures can be skewed.
Early on in the pandemic, Professor Chris Whitty, England's Chief Medical Officer, said that looking at overall number of deaths, and how it changes, is a better approach.
As the graph below shows, the UK experienced a huge jump in the number of deaths above the average in 2020, with fluctuations over the following three years.
Are there lessons to be learned?
Yes. While there may be some quibbling over the figures, it's undeniable that the UK was worse hit than other nations, including close European neighbours.
Earlier this month the much-anticipated Covid Inquiry opened, with experts and politicians discussing the country's level of preparedness for the crisis.
Sir Chris told the Inquiry on Thursday that the "hazards and threats" from a pandemic are "going to be completely different every time".
He admitted that insufficient thought had been given to how a pandemic like Covid could be stopped in its tracks.
The medical chief said: "I certainly agree that we did not give sufficient thought to what we could do to stop, in its tracks, a pandemic on the scale of Covid, or indeed any other pathogen that could realistically go there.
"I do think, on the other hand, it is sensible to have a plan for 'if everything fails, what are we going to do?'
"We do still need to be able to say, 'let's go to the top of the range, actually, we could end up with 750,000 people dying, where are we going to bury bodies?'
"These are important, they may seem morbid, but they are practically important ... in this sense, I do think a plan is important.
"Where I would completely agree is that we do need to actually start off... all of them essentially said we saw this huge problem and we didn't say to the system, 'how are we going to stop it?"'
* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook.
