Sweden saw lower 2020 death spike than much of Europe - data

People enjoy the sun at an outdoor restaurant, despite the continuing spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Stockholm, Sweden March 26, 2020. TT News Agency/Janerik Henriksson via REUTERS

 

STOCKHOLM — Sweden, which has shunned the strict lockdowns that have choked much of the global economy, emerged from 2020 with a smaller increase in its overall mortality rate than most European countries, an analysis of official data sources showed. Infectious disease experts cautioned that the results could not be interpreted as evidence that lockdowns were unnecessary but acknowledged they may indicate Sweden’s overall stance on fighting the pandemic had merits worth studying. Sweden, meanwhile, has mostly relied on voluntary measures focused on social distancing, good hygiene and targeted rules that have kept schools, restaurants and shops largely open — an approach that has sharply polarised Swedes but spared the economy from much of the hit suffered elsewhere in Europe. Preliminary data from EU statistics agency Eurostat compiled by Reuters showed Sweden had 7.7% more deaths in 2020 than its average for the preceding four years.

Twenty-one of the 30 countries with available statistics had higher excess mortality than Sweden. However, Sweden did much worse than its Nordic neighbours, with Denmark registering just 1.5% excess mortality and Finland 1.0%. That analysis, which included an adjustment to account for differences in both the age structures and seasonal mortality patterns of countries analysed, placed Sweden 18th in a ranking of 26.

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Source: Johan Ahlander | Reuters