22.1 million excess deaths Recorded globally between 2020 and 2023New Delhi: According to the World Health Statistics 2026 report released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Covid-19 pandemic caused an estimated 22.1 million excess deaths globally between 2020 and 2023, almost three times the seven million Covid deaths officially reported worldwide.WHO said the pandemic wiped out nearly a decade of gains in global life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by 2021, calling it a “shock of historic proportions” to global health systems.According to the report, global life expectancy declined by 1.8 years between 2019 and 2021, while healthy life expectancy fell by 1.5 years during the same period, the sharpest reversal in recent decades.The report said excess mortality peaked in 2021 with 10.4 million excess deaths recorded globally as health care systems came under severe strain. Excess deaths are expected to decline to 4.9 million in 2022 and 3.3 million in 2023, although WHO cautioned that the recovery remains uneven and many countries have still not returned to pre-pandemic health trajectories.WHO defines excess deaths as more deaths than would normally be expected during a given period, including direct Covid deaths and indirect deaths caused by disruptions in health services and delays in treatment.The report found that men were disproportionately affected, with age-standardized excess mortality rates nearly 50% higher among men than women at the peak of the pandemic in 2021. Older adults suffered the highest mortality rates, especially those over the age of 85.WHO also highlighted major weaknesses in global death surveillance exposed during the pandemic. Of the estimated 61 million deaths globally in 2023, only about 21 million had officially reported cause of death information to WHO, while only 12 million had medically certified ICD-coded mortality data.The agency said the pandemic severely disrupted essential health services around the world, including vaccination programs, tuberculosis and HIV services, and treatment of non-communicable diseases, contributing significantly to indirect deaths during the period.WHO had earlier estimated in a separate analysis for 2022 that India caused about 4.74 million excess deaths during 2020–21, a figure disputed by the Indian government.The report also warns of slow progress in universal health coverage, rising health care-related poverty and a decline in global health financing after the pandemic.