Fewer people died in France in early May than in the same period in the two previous years following high excess death rates during the peak of the coronavirus epidemic in March-April, statistics agency INSEE says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The agency also reported that while death rates increased with age for those over 50 during the epidemic, fewer younger people died, probably because the lockdown led to a drop in other causes of death, notably accidents.
French mortality rates between May 1 and 18 were 6.0 per cent lower than in May 1-18, 2019 and 1.0 per cent below that period in 2018, provisional data showed.
As the epidemic raged between March 1 and April 30, French mortality was 26 per cent higher than March-April 2019 and 16 per cent higher than the corresponding period in 2018.
"Since May 1... we no longer see excess mortality compared to the two previous years" the agency said in a statement.
Only the region around Paris - the area worst hit by the virus - still showed excess deaths of 6.0 per cent early May compared with 2019, down sharply from 89 per cent in March-April.
In March-April, 129,084 people died in France, or 2116 per day on average, compared with an average 1720-1817 in the same months in 2019 and 2018.
The average death toll per day rose to 2250 in the second half of March, peaking on April 1, when 2795 people died.
INSEE said mortality often spikes during flu season in January-February. In January 2017, an average 2200 people died per day, more than during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Australian Associated Press