Almost half a million people died in Poland in 2020 – the highest figure in any year since the end of the Second World War, and around 20% (or 80,000 deaths) above the recent annual average.
During the 52 weeks of 2020, there were 475,253 deaths in Poland, according to figures from the country’s digitisation ministry compiled and presented by BIQdata, a service run by the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.
That represents a far higher figure than in any year since 1946, while it is also significantly above the average of just under 400,000 annual deaths recorded in recent times.
Data: Ministry of Digital Affairs, Statistics Poland (GUS) via BIQdata (*data for 2020 compiled from 52 weekly figures)
However, it is also the case that Poland has a larger overall population today than in the past. Yet even taking this into account, the figure of 12.4 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants in 2020 is still the highest since the war, note BIQdata.
The only other year that comes close is 1951, when there were 12.2 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. That year saw a large number of fatalities from diphtheria and whooping cough, as well as Poland’s first major polio epidemic.
BIQdata note that last year saw a particularly high number of deaths among older people in Poland.
Data broken down by age (which are currently only available up to the end of November) show that in the first 11 months of 2020, among those aged over 65, 175,600 women and 155,000 men died. In recent years, the averages in the same period were 146,700 and 122,500 respectively.
Poland escaped the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic with among the lowest infection rates in the EU. An international study found that, between February and May, Poland had a relatively low rate of overall excess deaths compared to other countries.
Poland had a relatively low rate of excess deaths among men during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and among women there was no rise in deaths at all.
The findings come from a study by researchers at Imperial College London: https://t.co/32a2ljpwJE pic.twitter.com/x4FeTuO6uH
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 14, 2020
However, the second wave of the pandemic has hit hard in Poland, which, after a rapid escalation in cases in October, had one of Europe’s highest death rates. In November, the total number of deaths in Poland was twice as high as normal for that month.
While the data for 2020 as a whole show around 80,000 more deaths in Poland than recent annual average, the government’s official figures indicate “only” around 28,500 Covid-related deaths during the year.
Some of the remainder are likely to be linked to undiagnosed COVID-19 cases, especially given that Poland has among the EU’s lowest testing rates. Yet there have also been many indirect victims of the pandemic, as overwhelmed hospitals have had to cut back on other services and some patients have been more reluctant to seek treatment.
Since the government began to reintroduce coronavirus restrictions nationwide from late October – including closing schools and requiring masks in all public places – the numbers of infections and deaths have been falling.
Those measures were toughened up again after Christmas, with the closing of hotels and compulsory quarantine for international arrivals.
Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Gazeta
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
