In Finland and Iceland, there was under-mortality at the beginning of the pandemic, which may have appeared later as over-mortality.
Life expectancy returned to the pre-pandemic level last year and in more than 18 countries of the European Union, according to recent statistics published by Eurostat. Finland is one of the seven countries where this has not yet happened.
In Finland, life expectancy was still 0.4 years shorter than in 2019.
The main reason is that so many elderly people died in the corona wave last November–December, says THL’s research professor, statistician Mika Gissler. The mortality of people over 70 was then a third higher than in other months of the year.
Even in Finland, life expectancy improved from the worst corona year in 2022. According to Gissler, the beginning of the current year looks like the mortality rate is falling to the pre-corona level.
Major the corona mortality in Finland fell to 2022. From the fall of 2021 to the end of 2022, life expectancy dropped by half a year for men and almost a year for women.
In several other countries, mortality reached its peak already in the early years of the pandemic. In Finland, the age-standardized mortality, on the contrary, decreased at the beginning of the pandemic.
Last year, life expectancy remained in the deepest depression in Iceland.
Iceland managed to close itself at the beginning of the pandemic so that the mortality rate of people over 70 years old decreased significantly. The under-mortality of 2020 may be reflected in the over-mortality of 2022 and 2023, Gissler thinks.
The death of the elderly can be delayed, but it cannot be reversed.
In all the corona death rate in Iceland has been the lowest in Europe. The population is very young thanks to immigration.
The rapid aging of Finland’s population affects mortality rates in general and corona mortality separately. The immune response of the elderly is often weakened, and corona infection can be fatal for them despite vaccinations.
Life expectancy is an indicator that makes it possible to compare the mortality of the population in different periods, taking into account the age structure. The number tells how long the children born now would live on average if this year’s age group mortality remained valid until the end of their lives.
The corona deaths of the elderly still do not affect life expectancy as much as the young, but they do, if there are enough of them.
The corona years have hardly been reflected in the mortality of Finns under 50, says Gissler.
Finns In light of last year’s Eurostat data, life expectancy is 81.7 years and for Icelanders 82.6 years. The longest life expectancy is for the Spanish, 84 years.
Life expectancy has increased the most in Romania, a whole year from the time before the pandemic. Still, life expectancy in Romania is only 76.6 years.
Western Europeans live several years longer on average than residents of the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe.