Despite adjustments

More than 47,000 heat-related deaths in Europe in 2023

A Spanish woman suffers from the heat in Madrid

(Bild: Associated Press)

Experts estimate that more than 47,000 people died as a result of high temperatures in Europe in 2023, the world's warmest year since records began. However, the international research group also found that adaptation to the heat appears to have taken place. 

The corresponding modeling study led by the "Barcelona Institute for Global Health" was published in the journal "Nature Medicine". The team used mortality data from the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) on 96 million deaths to estimate the heat-related mortality burden in 2023 for 823 regions in 35 European countries, including Austria.

According to these estimates, there were 47,690 heat-related deaths in Europe last year. This is the second-highest mortality rate since such calculations began in 2015, with the highest rate recorded in 2022.

Greece, Bulgaria and Italy in the top 3
Taking population figures into account, the research group found that the countries with the highest heat-related mortality rates are in southern Europe: Greece (393 deaths per million inhabitants), Bulgaria (229), Italy (209) and Spain (175) occupy the top four places in the estimate. In Germany, this rate was 76 deaths and in Austria 54 deaths per million inhabitants in 2023.

This woman in Greece has stocked up on plenty of water to survive the heat.

(Bild: AFP)

In absolute figures, the research group estimates the number of heat-related deaths for 2023 at just under 12,750 in Italy, followed by 8,352 in Spain and 6,376 in Germany. In Austria, the number of heat-related deaths was 486. In Austria - as in almost all countries studied - more women than men died from the effects of heat, and it was mainly older people who were susceptible.

The team led by Elisa Gallo from Barcelona has now also modeled the effects of heat-related mortality without climate adaptation measures. These include, for example, improvements in the areas of healthcare, social protection and lifestyle, progress in occupational health and structural conditions, greater risk awareness and more effective communication and early warning strategies.

Social adaptation processes saved many lives
The research team estimates that without these measures, heat-related mortality in the general population could probably be 80 percent higher in 2023 and over 100 percent higher in the 80+ age group. "Our results show that this century has seen societal adaptation processes to high temperatures that have drastically reduced the heat-related vulnerability and mortality burden of recent summers, especially among older people," first author Gallo is quoted as saying in a press release.

According to Gallo, the minimum mortality temperature - the optimal temperature with the lowest mortality risk - has gradually increased on average across the continent since 2000, from 15 degrees Celsius in the period 2000 to 2004 to 17.7 degrees Celsius in the period 2015 to 2019. "This suggests that we are less vulnerable to heat than at the beginning of the century, probably due to general socioeconomic progress, improvements in individual behavior and public health measures such as the heat prevention plans implemented after the record-breaking summer of 2003."

Just recently, the same research group also presented "Forecaster.health", an online early warning system that provides forecasts of cold and heat-related mortality risk by gender and age for 580 regions in 31 European countries. The free tool provides forecasts up to 15 days in advance and is not only based on meteorological data, but also incorporates epidemiological models.