Comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six European countries
The COVID-19 pandemic that reached Europe in 2020 has often been compared to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. In this article, we compare the two pandemics in terms of their respective impacts on the loss of life expectancy at birth in six European countries (France, Italy, the Netherlands, S...
| Published in: | Vienna Yearbook of Population Research |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
2022-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://austriaca.at/?arp=0x003da265 |
| _version_ | 1850375992114151424 |
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| author | Valentin Rousson Fred Paccaud Isabella Locatelli |
| author_facet | Valentin Rousson Fred Paccaud Isabella Locatelli |
| author_sort | Valentin Rousson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| container_title | Vienna Yearbook of Population Research |
| description |
The COVID-19 pandemic that reached Europe in 2020 has often been compared to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. In this article, we compare the two pandemics in terms of their respective impacts on the loss of life expectancy at birth in six European countries (France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) by estimating life expectancy in 2020 using Eurostat data. We found that the loss of life expectancy at birth was up to 20 times larger between 1917 and 1918 than between 2019 and 2020. A decomposition of these losses clearly shows that in all six countries, the main contributors were older age groups in 2020 and younger age groups in 1918. These observations are consistent with evidence indicating that most COVID-19 fatalities were among the elderly, while a majority of Spanish flu fatalities were among the young. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e9905d9ec8d54f8ba916d997a5fc428f |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Journals |
| issn | 1728-4414 1728-5305 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Austrian Academy of Sciences Press |
| record_format | Article |
| spelling | doaj-art-e9905d9ec8d54f8ba916d997a5fc428f2025-08-19T22:59:21ZengAustrian Academy of Sciences PressVienna Yearbook of Population Research1728-44141728-53052022-12-012052754210.1553/populationyearbook2022.dat.7Comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six European countriesValentin Roussonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8092-4446Fred Paccaudhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7583-8153Isabella Locatellihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0870-1461 The COVID-19 pandemic that reached Europe in 2020 has often been compared to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. In this article, we compare the two pandemics in terms of their respective impacts on the loss of life expectancy at birth in six European countries (France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) by estimating life expectancy in 2020 using Eurostat data. We found that the loss of life expectancy at birth was up to 20 times larger between 1917 and 1918 than between 2019 and 2020. A decomposition of these losses clearly shows that in all six countries, the main contributors were older age groups in 2020 and younger age groups in 1918. These observations are consistent with evidence indicating that most COVID-19 fatalities were among the elderly, while a majority of Spanish flu fatalities were among the young.https://austriaca.at/?arp=0x003da265 |
| spellingShingle | Valentin Rousson Fred Paccaud Isabella Locatelli Comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six European countries |
| title | Comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six European countries |
| title_full | Comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six European countries |
| title_fullStr | Comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six European countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six European countries |
| title_short | Comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six European countries |
| title_sort | comparing the loss of life expectancy at birth during the 2020 and 1918 pandemics in six european countries |
| url | https://austriaca.at/?arp=0x003da265 |
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