French mortality rate rose 9% in 2020 due to COVID-19

The highest excess mortality rates were in the Ile-de-France region around Paris and in the east of France, two regions particularly hard hit by the pandemic. "Deaths in France have been marked by the COVID-19 epidemic," INSEE said, adding that death numbers for the end of the year had not yet been transmitted to INSEE.

France's overall mortality rate in 2020, inflated by the COVID-19 pandemic, was nine percent higher than in the previous two years, provisional data released by statistics institute INSEE showed on Friday.

INSEE said that on Jan. 15, a total of 667,400 deaths from all causes had been registered for 2020 in France - 53,900 more than in 2019. The highest excess mortality rates were in the Ile-de-France region around Paris and in the east of France, two regions particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

"Deaths in France have been marked by the COVID-19 epidemic," INSEE said, adding that death numbers for the end of the year had not yet been transmitted to INSEE. The institute said that the higher mortality rate impacted only people aged 65 and over. It also said the first wave of high mortality during the initial phase of the pandemic in March and April was shorter than the second one starting in September.