OBJECTIVES

Morbidity and mortality rates show different patterns in European countries. The aim of the study was to map geographical inequalities in mortality caused by coronavirus (Sars-COV-2) infection in Europe in 2020.

METHODS

In our research the ’COVID deaths by week, 2020 and 2021’ indicator from ’OECD Health Statistics’ online database was analysed. Mortality data reported for weeks were aggregated, and calculated for 1,000,000 population using the Eurostat database on the population number for 2020. European countries were classified and compared according to their geographical location: Western-European, Eastern-European, Mediterranean and Nordic countries. After a preliminary normality test (Shapiro-Wilk test) single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for comparison. Our analysis was carried out at a 95% probability level (p<0.05). SPSS 25.0 software was used for calculations.

RESULTS

In Western Europe, an overall 886, Eastern Europe 826, in Mediterranean region 1,083 and in Northern Europe 463 COVID deaths per 1,000,000 population were reported in 2020. In Europe, Belgium (1,725 deaths/1,000,000 population), Slovenia (1,379 deaths/1,000,000 population) and the United Kingdom (1,331 deaths/1,000,000 population) had the highest registered number of death cases, whereas the lowest numbers recorded were in Norway (84/1,000,000), Finland (102/1,000,000) and Estonia (189/1,000,000). Single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show significant differences among country groups (p=0.119).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study revealed that overall, the lowest death rates resulting from the coronavirus infection were reported in Northern Europe in proportion to the population. There were no significant differences between the mortality rates of the geographical areas examined.