Sweden, which imposed very few restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, had one of the lowest excess mortality rates in Europe and the world during that period, according to data from Eurostat.
The annual excess mortality for the European Union in 2021 was 14 percent higher than the pre-pandemic 2016-2019 period per Eurostat data. Meanwhile, Sweden only had an excess mortality rate below 5 percent in 2021. Several other nations had higher rates, with Bulgaria reporting close to 40 percent excess deaths. While excess mortality for the EU in 2022 stood at 11 percent, Sweden’s rate was just 4.1 percent.
