The World Health Organization says the COVID-19 pandemic caused the deaths of nearly 15 million people worldwide through the end of last year. The WHO’s estimate is nearly triple the 5.4 million deaths reported by governments. It’s based on an examination of the number of excess deaths — that is, how many more people died than would otherwise be expected. The WHO’s Assistant Director-General Dr. Samira Asma announced the findings.

Dr. Samira Asma: “What we released today is a staggering number of 14.9 million excess deaths since the start of the pandemic, from January 2020 to December 2021, in a period of 24 months. What we also reported today is that the majority of these deaths occurred in Southeast Asia region, followed by Europe and the Americas.”