First published: 28 June 2020 – auf Deutsch lesen

In Austria, the first corona death occurred in mid-March 2020. Since then, there is a growing interest in the question as to whether, when and to which extent the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased overall mortality. For this reason, Statistics Vienna (MA 23) evaluates mortality trends in Austria’s nine provinces with regard to unusual events. We apply the Vienna Mortality Monitoring Methodology and use data provided by Statistics Austria.

In order to assess whether there was any excess mortality we defined the range of the expected number of weekly deaths. The prediction intervals (“bands”) comprise 99% of the expected values assuming a random and independent distribution of the weekly number of deaths by age group (0 to 64 years or 65 years and older). The “bands” take into account seasonal fluctuations and changes in the population size, age structure, and life expectancy – see our technical report.

Our analyses include all deaths of people with a residence in the Austrian provinces who died in Austria. The data originates from the Register of Vital Statistics (ZPR) and is provided by Statistics Austria. Please note that the data is still preliminary. The number of deaths of the two latest available weeks have not yet been fully registered and are therefore partially estimated by Statistics Austria. Data on weekly deaths since 2007 in Austria’s provinces (NUTS 2) as well as the prediction intervals are published at the Austrian Open Data portal.

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Weekly deaths in Austria’s nine provinces since January 2020

The following charts show the number of weekly deaths in Austria (excluding deaths of Austrian residents that happened abroad) and the range of the expected values (i.e. the prediction interval). When interpreting the charts it should be taken into account that the prediction intervals are not intended to show events of a comparable strength. The prediction intervals rather show how clearly excess mortality can be assessed for the respective week in the respective region (statistical significance).

Population size determines the width of the prediction interval and thus how clearly excess mortality can be assessed. The greater the population (and, hence, number of corresponding deaths), the narrower is the expected variance in weekly deaths, which in turn allows a more precise identification of excess mortality. Therefore, the magnitude of the deviation of actual deaths from the prediction interval is only comparable between provinces with a similar population size (e.g. between Vienna and Lower Austria).

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Archive: Overview January 2020 to June 2022

The following chart shows mortality in Austria and its nine provinces from week 1 2020 to week 26 2022 as heatmap. Excess mortality is coloured red, normal mortality white and a mortality deficit blue. Total (cumulative) mortality during the whole period is visualized on the right-hand side. This chart is no longer updated.

Many thanks to Johannes Klotz and to our colleagues at the Swiss Federal Statistical Office for their expertise and methodological support.

Data

Mortality Monitoring Austria and Vienna since 2020 (Open Government Data, Statistics Vienna)

Weekly deaths in Austria (without deaths in foreign countries) since 2000 (Statistics Austria)

More information

Trautinger, Speringer & Bauer (2022): Vienna Mortality Monitoring Methodology (technical report and R code)

Bauer et al.: Assessing excess mortality in Vienna and Austria after the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 2022)

Vienna Mortality Monitoring 2007–2020

Mortality Monitoring in European countries and cities since 2020

Information on the Corona pandemic by the City of Vienna (in German)

EuroMOMO (European Mortality Monitoring): Current analysis of mortality in European countries

Corona and fertility in Vienna (in German)