A study published in The Lancet on March 11, 2022, shows that the number of people who have died in the world as a result of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 amounts to 18.2 million, according to the first investigation that has estimated the excess of mortality caused by COVID-19 on a global scale. The figure multiplies by more than three the 5.9 million deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 in the analyzed period.

In Spain, researchers estimate that there were 162,000 deaths from the pandemic as of December 31, 2021, a figure 64% higher than the 98,900 officially reported deaths.

The authors conclude that the full impact of the pandemic has been much greater than what is indicated by reported deaths due to COVID-19 alone. Strengthening death registration systems around the world, long understood to be crucial to global public health strategy, is necessary for improved monitoring of this pandemic and future pandemics. In addition, further research is warranted to help distinguish the proportion of excess mortality that was directly caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and the changes in causes of death as an indirect consequence of the pandemic.