Covid: 2020 saw most excess deaths since World War Two

The Covid pandemic has caused excess deaths to rise to their highest level since World War Two.

There were close to 697,000 deaths in the UK – nearly 91,000 more than the average in the previous five years.

This represents an increase of 15% – making it the largest rise in excess deaths for more than 75 years.

When the age and size of the population is taken into account 2020 saw the worst death rates since the mid 2000s.

This measure – known as age-standardised mortality – takes into account population growth and age.