A sharp increase in excess deaths in Ireland in December 2022 resulted in the highest excess mortality rate in the Republic since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic almost three years ago, according to new EU figures.
The latest data on the extra number of recorded deaths above historical averages shows Ireland had the fourth highest rate of excess mortality among the 27 EU member states last December.
They revealed that there were 25.4% more deaths in the Republic in December compared to the average number of deaths for the same month between 2016 and 2019.
