Coronavirus Increases Mortality for the Elderly in Germany

Germany has been unable to prevent an increase in mortality in the 60–79 and 80-and-over age groups during the coronavirus pandemic, according to mortality figures examined by the ifo Institute. “In contrast, government measures have worked for younger age groups, where mortality wasn’t higher than usual until November,” says Joachim Ragnitz, Managing Director of the ifo Institute’s Dresden Branch.

For example, in the period December 7–13, in calendar week 50/2020, some 69.4 percent of coronavirus deaths occurred in the 80-and-older age group, and another 27.9 percent of fatalities occurred in the 60–79 age group. Over the total period from week 11 to week 50, the probability of dying once a coronavirus infection was contracted was more than 21 percent among those aged 80 or over; for 60- to 79-year-olds, it was still a significant 5.3 percent.

Higher-than-usual mortality – which experts call “excess mortality” – has occurred throughout the pandemic, especially in week 15 (April 6–12), with 3.0 additional deaths per 100,000 population, and during the second wave of coronavirus in week 48 (November 23–29), with 2.9 additional deaths per 100,000 population. However, over both waves of coronavirus, around half of the excess mortality over previous years is due to the fact that the older age groups have grown to include more people.