More than 130,000 more people died in England and Wales than normal between March 2020 and the end of last year, heartbreaking figures show.
Data released today reveals the devastating impact of the Covid pandemic, with statisticians saying the virus accounted for the lion's share of excess deaths.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that there were 133,623 more deaths than the five-year average between the start of the coronavirus crisis and December 2021.
These included 81,885 males and 51,737 females.
Statisticians found that if cases where Covid-19 was not an underlying cause of death were excluded, the number of deaths in England and Wales was 7,401 lower than normal.
April 2020 and January 2021 were the months that saw the highest number of excess deaths.
But the latest data shows the pandemic may have indirectly accelerated mortality in certain causes of death including dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
There were more deaths from these conditions than usual in the early stage of the pandemic but fewer in more recent months.
Most leading causes of mortality, including liver disease, diabetes and old age, saw a similar proportion of deaths that were above the pre-pandemic average.
Deaths due to dementia and Alzheimer's disease showed a "notably different trend", ONS said.
From March to December 2020, deaths in England and Wales due to these causes were 9.7% higher than usual, with a total of 4,990 excess deaths.
By contrast, in 2021, deaths due to dementia and Alzheimer's disease were 4,417 below average, representing a 6.7% decrease.
There was a "similar trend" in deaths due to prostate cancer, with 352 extra deaths from March to December 2020 (a 4.0% increase) followed by 312 deaths below average in 2021 (a 2.9% decrease).
The figures offer "cautious evidence that the indirect effects of the coronavirus pandemic may have accelerated mortality in certain causes of death, thereby causing deaths to be below average later in the pandemic," the ONS said.
This could be an example of "mortality displacement", which occurs when vulnerable people, such as the elderly or those with pre-existing medical conditions, die sooner than expected.
"Further investigation is required to understand this," the ONS added.
The trend is not evident in other figures, with most causes of death seeing similar proportions of excess deaths in both periods.
The Mirror previously reported that nearly 1,200 more people than normal died every week across the UK on average in 2021, striking new figures show.
Analysis by The Mirror reveals that across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the number of recorded deaths was 10 per cent higher than the five-year average.
Provisional data from UK statistics agencies shows 667,030 people died across the four countries in 2021 - 62,352 more than normal in the past five years.
Between the start of the Covid crisis and the end of 2021, the number of people who died from all causes was more than 144,000 higher than the five year average.
