Ireland had no 'excess' deaths during pandemic, new research finds 

'These figures point to the success of Ireland’s public health measures, and to the strong uptake of our covid-19 vaccination programme.' Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said.

New research by the OECD indicates Ireland had no excess deaths during the pandemic years 2020 to 2022, when factors such as rising population are taken into account.

Data in the OECD Health Working Paper No 163 refers to deaths from all causes during a period of time, above what would normally be expected.

The paper shows across OECD countries, excess deaths were up 5% during 2020 to 2022 compared to 2015 to 2019.

The OECD researchers said the findings apply to mortality patterns over an annual or three-year frequency.

They said weekly data on deaths shows a greater variance, saying during the pandemic years “countries may have experienced significant peaks in mortality that caused acute pressures on health systems and emergency services”.

The authors found lower than expected levels of deaths among some younger age groups, saying exposure to accidents, violence and other infectious diseases was lowered during lockdowns. 

The figures for all countries were adjusted to take account of rapid demographic change.

In Ireland’s case, there was an 8% rise in the Irish population between 2016 and 2022, as well as a 22% increase in numbers of over-65s.

In a statement on the findings, the Department of Health said: “Adjusting mortality rates to take account of these changes has shown that Ireland did not record excess mortality during 2020-2022. In fact, Ireland had a lower-than-expected death rate.” 

Health minister Stephen Donnelly said: “I am very pleased to be able to report that Ireland’s excess mortality during the core pandemic years was the fourth lowest among OECD countries.

“Ireland asked a lot of its population during this time and the restrictions that were put in place had a profound impact on us all. These figures point to the success of Ireland’s public health measures, and to the strong uptake of our covid-19 vaccination programme.” 

Chief Medical Officer Professor Breda Smyth said: “The OECD Working Paper highlights some of the important caveats associated with previously published estimates on excess mortality during the core pandemic years.”