Changes in Mortality During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: Descriptive Analysis of National Health Statistics up to 2022.

BACKGROUND

Amidst the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Japan has faced a significant public health challenge, evident from the significant increase in mortality rates since 2021. This study described the variations in all-cause and cause-specific changes in mortality up to 2022 in Japan.

METHODS

This study used official Vital Statistics from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) to assess the impact of the pandemic on mortality trends. An analysis of all-cause and cause-specific age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) from 1995 to 2022 was conducted, employing the 2015 Japan Standard Population. Sex- and cause-specific ASMRs for a particular year were compared with those from the preceding year to assess annual changes.

RESULTS

Among men, the annual all-cause ASMR per 100,000 people increased from 1,356.3 in 2021 to 1,437.8 in 2022 (6.0% increase). Among women, the annual all-cause ASMR increased from 722.1 in 2021 to 785.8 in 2022 (6.5% increase). Compared with the period 2020 to 2021, COVID-19 (+29.1 per 100,000 people for men and +13.4 per 100,000 people for women), senility (+14.1 per 100,000 people for men and +12.5 per 100,000 people for women), heart disease, malignant neoplasms (for women) and "other causes not classified as major causes" substantially contributed to the increase in all-cause ASMR from 2021 to 2022.

CONCLUSION

Further long-term monitoring from 2023 onwards is necessary, especially for conditions like senility, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, which may have long-term effects due to changes in healthcare settings, even though the strong countermeasures against COVID-19 were lifted in 2023.