Summary

Nationally, all-cause mortality reported by INSEE has risen gradually across all age groups and has exceeded the usual fluctuation thresholds since mid-December (week 50).

Analysis by age group shows a different and sequential trend in mortality across the relevant age groups:

• an observed number of deaths among adults aged 15–64 significantly above the thresholds over the four weeks of December (W49–W52), followed by a slight decrease in the first week of January,

• an observed number of deaths among people aged 65–84 that was significantly above the thresholds during the last two weeks of December (W51 and W52),

• an observed number of deaths among people aged 85 and older that rose sharply and was significantly above the thresholds starting in the first week of January 2018.

At the regional level, the following is specifically noted (data not shown):

• an increase in mortality starting in December in Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA), and Île-de-France, with a gradual shift in the rise in mortality from people aged 15–64 to those aged 65 and older,

• an increase in mortality in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes among people aged 65 and older since the first week of January.

These initial observations should be interpreted with caution, as the data are not yet consolidated due to the usual transmission delays. As a reminder, these analyses are based on civil registry data and contain no information on the medical causes of death.

According to data from electronic certification, 1,786 deaths were recorded during the second week of 2018 (January 8–14).