©Benjamin Kubitza via Unsplash
The June heat wave caused an exceptionally high excess mortality rate in Belgium: 47.8 percent, accounting for 1,747 additional deaths. According to Sciensano, the Belgian National Institute for Public Health, this is the highest mortality rate during a heat wave since records began in 2000.
The figures come from Be-MOMO, the program Sciensano uses to track mortality from all causes of death in Belgium.
"The deadliest day was June 27, with 641 deaths: an excess mortality rate of 146.5%. Mortality also remained exceptionally high on June 28, with 632 recorded deaths (143.1% excess mortality). Normally, about 260 deaths per day are expected by the end of June,” according to Sciensano’s website.
Noteworthy are the significant differences between the north and south of Belgium: Wallonia was particularly hard hit, with 76 percent excess mortality, followed by Brussels with 60.9 percent and Flanders with 31.4 percent. The peak occurred on June 27 and 28, when daily mortality was more than double the normal rate.
"For the entire heat wave, Wallonia recorded a 76% excess mortality rate (919 additional deaths). In Flanders, the rate was 31.4% (682 additional deaths). Brussels falls in between, with a 60.9% excess mortality rate (159 additional deaths),” the report states.
Compared to other heat waves, Sciensano describes the heat wave at the end of June as “truly exceptional”: “This represents the highest mortality rate during a heat wave since the start of the analyses (2000), both in absolute numbers (1,747 additional deaths) and as a percentage (47.8% excess mortality).”
"During the previous severe heat wave, from August 5 to 12, 2020, excess mortality was 37.5% (1,557 additional deaths). The heat wave in August 2006 saw excess mortality of 31%. Other recent heat waves saw much lower excess mortality rates: 12% (218 additional deaths) in July 2022; 11% (359 additional deaths) in August 2022; 6% (225 additional deaths) in June 2023."
Sciensano emphasizes that it was not only the elderly who were affected: there was also a clear excess mortality among 15- to 64-year-olds. The researchers point out that the combination of long duration, high temperatures, and high ozone concentrations made this heat wave particularly deadly.
Illustration picture: © Benjamin Kubitza via Unsplash