The number of people who died in Germany at the end of June – when a record-breaking heatwave hit much of Europe – was almost a third above the average figure for the same period over the past four years, official data showed on Tuesday.
Around 23,900 people died in the week June 22-28, some 7,100 more than in the week two weeks earlier, according to provisional figures from the national statistical office. The number was 32% up on the four-year average.
“The fact that the health impact from heat is high and that death rates rise as a result is a well-known effect often observed in the summer months,” the office said.
Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) last week estimated that around 5,100 people had died from heat-related causes since mid-June. The disease control institute put the number of heat-related deaths in the June 22-28 week at 4,130.
According to the RKI, whole-year estimates for heat-related deaths in the period 2023-25 came in at 2,900 per year, well below the numbers seen barely half-way through this year.
The statistical office and the RKI use different statistical methods.
The statistical office said that while the April and May death rates this year came in slightly below those for 2022-25, in June they were 9% higher.
