The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on life expectancy in Germany, with a notable difference between East and West Germany. According to data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the average life expectancy for girls born in 2021 is 83.2 years, which is 0.4 years lower than the previous calculation in 2019. For boys, the life expectancy has decreased by 0.6 years to 78.2 years. The statisticians at Destatis attribute this to the “exceptional situation” caused by the high number of deaths during the Covid-19 waves. It is unclear whether this trend will continue or if it is just a temporary interruption.
Jonas Schöley from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) confirms that the decline in life expectancy can be directly attributed to Covid-19. The data published by MPIDR on the preprint server medRxiv is consistent with the data from Destatis. Schöley notes that the synchronized decline in life expectancy across the planet in two consecutive years is “completely unusual and exceptional.” The largest decrease in life expectancy from 2019 to 2021 was observed in East Germany, with a decline of 1.3 years for boys and 0.9 years for girls. In West Germany, the decline was 0.4 years for boys and 0.3 years for girls.
The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a particularly strong impact on the eastern states of Germany, which is responsible for the significant difference in life expectancy between East and West Germany. The Destatis scientists explain that the number of deaths from 2019 to 2021 was expected to increase by 2 to 4 percent, but it actually increased by 9 percent. This resulted in approximately 70,000 to 100,000 additional deaths between 2020 and 2021. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) recorded approximately 115,000 Covid-19 deaths during this period. The decline in life expectancy in Germany is a cause for concern, and it highlights the need for continued efforts to control the spread of Covid-19.
