According to the Gallic Health Services, France identified 400 more deaths than usual during the August days, especially when its southern half experienced a heat wave, representing an increase of 5.4%.
This excess mortality, which includes all causes, particularly affects “people over the age of 75,” according to a report prepared by Sante Public France (SPF), the official agency for health affairs.
Figures on excess deaths do not represent the entire country, but only 52 of the 101 departments in metropolitan France were affected by the heat wave between August 11 and 26 last year.
These departments account for 46.3% of metropolitan France’s population. In this subgroup, 19 departments were on red alert due to heat, the highest alert level, located in four regions, namely Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, New Aquitaine, Occitania and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
“The impact on mortality varies from one sector to another, particularly depending on the duration (number of days of the heat wave) and the severity of the event (temperature)”, according to the SPF.
The agency intends to provide a full assessment later of the health impact of the various heat waves and “more generally, the French population will be exposed to extreme heat throughout the summer of 2023”.
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