World has suffered 15 million excess deaths due to COVID-19, WHO analysis shows

A group of top experts convened by WHO and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs calculated excess mortality related to the pandemic between the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2021 at approximately 14.9 million lives lost, with a range from 13.3 million to 16.6 million, the World Health Organization said in a statement, according to Report.

Called “excess mortality,” the number is calculated as the difference between the deaths that have occurred and the number that — based on data from earlier years — would be expected in the absence of the pandemic.

Given that there have been well over 100,000 additional deaths in 2022 so far, the total current number of excess Covid-related deaths can easily be said to be over 15 million.