The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its World Health Statistics 2026 report, revealing that the COVID-19 pandemic caused an estimated 22.1 million excess deaths globally between 2020 and 2023. This figure is nearly three times higher than the seven million COVID-19 deaths officially reported worldwide.
Impact on Life Expectancy
The WHO stated that the pandemic wiped out nearly a decade of gains in global life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by 2021, describing it as a 'setback of historic proportions' for global health systems. According to the report, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years between 2019 and 2021, while healthy life expectancy dropped by 1.5 years during the same period, marking the sharpest reversal in recent decades.
Excess Mortality Trends
Excess mortality peaked in 2021 with 10.4 million additional deaths recorded globally as healthcare systems came under severe strain. Excess deaths declined to 4.9 million in 2022 and 3.3 million in 2023, though WHO cautioned that recovery remains uneven and many countries have still not returned to pre-pandemic health trajectories.
The WHO defines excess deaths as fatalities above what would normally be expected during a given period, including both direct COVID-19 deaths and indirect deaths caused by disruption of healthcare services and delayed treatment. The report found men were disproportionately affected, with age-standardised excess mortality around 50% higher among men than women at the peak of the pandemic in 2021. Older adults faced the highest mortality burden, especially those aged above 85 years.
Weaknesses in Mortality Surveillance
WHO highlighted major weaknesses in global mortality surveillance exposed during the pandemic. Of an estimated 61 million deaths globally in 2023, only around 21 million were officially reported to WHO with cause-of-death information, while just 12 million had medically certified ICD-coded mortality data.
Disruption of Essential Health Services
The agency said the pandemic severely disrupted essential health services worldwide, including vaccination programmes, tuberculosis and HIV services, and treatment for non-communicable diseases, contributing significantly to indirect deaths during the period.
WHO had earlier estimated in a separate 2022 analysis that India accounted for nearly 4.74 million excess deaths during 2020-21, a figure disputed by the Indian government.
Future Challenges
The report also warned of slowing progress in universal health coverage, rising healthcare-related poverty and declining global health funding after the pandemic.
