Global COVID-19 Deaths Are More Than Three Times Higher Than Official Counts [Reading Science]

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A study has revealed that the global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 18.2 million, more than three times the official statistics. Notably, the world's leading powers, the United States and Russia, were competing for the highest numbers.

The medical journal The Lancet published a research report on the 10th authored by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) based in Seattle, USA. This figure is more than three times the 5.94 million officially reported by governments worldwide to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the end of December last year.

The IHME research team used "excess mortality" as a metric to estimate the actual number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in various countries. They compared the total reported deaths during the pandemic period with the expected number of deaths based on recent years' trends to analyze the difference. Data on death counts from 74 countries worldwide were collected and analyzed. As a result, the estimated "excess deaths per 100,000 population" attributed to COVID-19 globally from January 2020 to December last year was approximately 120.3.

Regionally, South Asia, North Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe suffered the most. By country, India had the highest number with 4.07 million, followed by the United States with 1.13 million, Russia with 1.07 million, Mexico with 798,000, Brazil with 792,000, Indonesia with 736,000, and Pakistan with 664,000. Based on "excess deaths per 100,000 population," Russia ranked highest at 374.67, followed by Mexico at 325.1. Brazil (186.9) and the United States (179.3) followed.

The reason the official counts are much lower than the actual figures is that in many countries, deaths are often delayed in reporting or omitted altogether. Wang Haidong, a co-author of the report and IHME researcher, stated, "The loss of life due to COVID-19 is much greater than the simple tallies reported by most countries," adding, "Understanding the true scale of deaths caused by the pandemic is essential for effective public health decision-making."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.