Germany’s killer summer: Heat waves claimed record 15,800 lives

Around 15,800 people in Germany have died from heat-related causes this year – significantly more than in any of the past 10 years – according to estimates released on Thursday by the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute.

Of these deaths, 9,600 were attributed to the extreme heat at the end of June, according to the latest weekly report by the institute, which is Germany's national public health body. Another 4,000 deaths were linked to particularly high temperatures during the first two weeks of August. The report covers the period from April 6 to Aug. 16.

The institute recorded 9,500 heat-related deaths in 2018 and 7,600 in 2019. The figures for recent years vary somewhat compared to earlier the institute data. According to a spokeswoman, this is because the estimates are recalculated every month, including for past years.

Number of deaths could be even higher

According to the institute, these are conservative estimates, meaning the total number of heat-related deaths this year could be even higher.

Uwe Janssens, medical director of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, said recently that many cases are not recorded as heat-related because death certificates list causes such as organ failure.

In some cases, such as heatstroke, exposure to heat leads directly to death, according to the institute. In most cases, however, people die from a combination of heat and pre-existing medical conditions.

Older people most affected

According to the institute, more than half of this year’s heat-related deaths—about 7,960—occurred among people age 85 and older. Around 3,900 people died between the ages of 75 and 84, while about 2,440 were age 65 to 74, and 1,470 were younger than 65. Overall, more women than men died from heat-related causes, but this is because women make up a larger proportion of the older population.