This 2.6% decrease during the second year of the pandemic followed a 7.6% increase in 2020, according to the national statistics bureau Statec. The measures undertaken to combat the coronavirus--like social distancing, vaccination and testing--would be to thank for the improvement in the excess mortality rate, says Statec. In 2021, covid-related deaths represented 9% of deaths, 2 percentage points less than the year before.

The average age for deaths in Luxembourg lies at 80.7 for women and 74.7 for men. Only one in four deaths recorded was a resident younger than 70 years old.

This signifies a return to a pre-pandemic value of 7%. As the rate is calculated by comparing the number of deaths to the size of the country’s population, Statec underlines the importance of considering the 1.7% growth the grand duchy has witnessed in 2021. The probability of dying continues to decrease for newborns and young children under 14, regardless of gender. From 15 years on, the risk of dying increases gradually for all age groups, though it generally is higher for men than for women of the same age.

Covid, says Statec, has mainly affected people above the age of 70. With an increase of 8.3% in deaths against 3.6% for Luxembourgers, foreigners residing in the grand duchy were also more severely impacted by covid.