In Finland and Iceland, there were initially lower mortality rates at the start of the pandemic, but this eventually led to higher mortality rates later on. Recent statistics from Eurostat show that life expectancy has returned to pre-pandemic levels in more than 18 countries in the European Union, but Finland is one of the seven countries where this has not yet occurred.
In Finland, life expectancy in 2022 was still 0.4 years shorter than in 2019 due to a significant number of elderly deaths during the corona wave in November-December of the same year. The mortality rate for people over 70 was one-third higher during that time compared to other months of the year. However, there are signs that the mortality rate is falling back to pre-pandemic levels at the beginning of this year.
In Iceland, life expectancy remained at its lowest point last year due to under-mortality seen in 2020 which may contribute to over-mortality observed in 2022 and 2023. Overall, the aging population of Finland has a significant impact on mortality rates, including corona mortality due to weakened immune responses in the elderly which can make them more susceptible to fatal corona infections despite vaccinations. Although corona deaths among the elderly do not affect life expectancy as much as younger populations, they can still have an impact if numbers of deaths are high.
In 2022, life expectancy for Finns was 81.7 years while for Icelanders it was 82.6 years. The country with the highest life expectancy in Europe is Spain with an average of 84 years. Life expectancy has been affected differently by the pandemic across different countries with some seeing increases and others experiencing decreases highlighting that COVID-19 pandemic’s impact varies globally based on various factors including healthcare systems and government interventions measures taken by each country