Mortality during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Uruguay

Catalina Torres , Facultad de Ciencias Sociales Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Victoria Prieto Rosas, Universidad de la Republica
Gonzalo De Armas, Statistical
Mariana Paredes, Universidad de la Republica
Raquel Pollero, Programa de Población- Facultad de Ciencias Sociales- Universidad de la República

In 2020, while many countries were experiencing excess mortality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, in Uruguay there were less deaths compared to those registered in 2019. However, the following two years were marked by unprecedentedly high numbers of deaths, exceeding considerably those observed during the preceding decades. In this study we explore mortality levels and changes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uruguay. We try to quantify the lethal impact of the pandemic, by estimating the number of annual and monthly excess deaths in 2020-2022. Furthermore, we compare the mortality levels during those years with those of a pre-pandemic period, decomposing the changes in life expectancy into the contributions by age and cause of death. We find that, contrary to what was observed in most countries (in Latin American and beyond), there was a life-expectancy increase in 2020 in Uruguay. However, in 2021 and 2022, there was a considerable loss in life expectancy, as the number of deaths registered exceeded by almost 19% and 13% the expected numbers for those years, respectively. In addition, the decomposition results indicate that most of the losses in life expectancy during the pandemic can be directly attributed to COVID-19. However, substantial, negative contributions from other causes were observed as well, especially in 2022, showing the impact the pandemic might have had on other causes of death and the health system.

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 Presented in Session 100. Excess Mortality and Life Expectancy Changes during the COVID-19 pandemic