site.btaViral Hepatitis Deaths in EU Halved in 10 Years

In 2023, 3,172 deaths resulting from viral hepatitis were registered in the EU, the lowest number since data collection began in 2011. This represents a 9.3% decrease compared with 2022 (3,499 cases) and a 53.7% reduction compared with 2013 (6,856 cases), according to data from EU’s statistical office Eurostat.

The disease affects men to a greater extent, with males accounting for 58.3% of all deaths from viral hepatitis. It affects both older people and the working-age population. People under the age of 65 accounted for 35.7% of deaths from viral hepatitis, while they represented 14.8% of all deaths from any cause.

At EU level, in 2023 the disease caused an average of 0.64 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

The highest standardised mortality rates were recorded in Italy (1.62 deaths per 100,000 people), Latvia (1.54), and Austria (1.02). The lowest rates were reported in Finland (0.07) and Slovenia (0.13), while Luxembourg recorded no deaths from hepatitis in 2023.

The rate for Bulgaria that year was approximately 0.57 deaths per 100,000 people.

Regional data show that 15 regions recorded at least 1.5 deaths from viral hepatitis per 100,000: 10 regions in Italy, 2 in France, and 1 each in Austria, Romania, and Latvia (which is considered a single region at this level of analysis).

The highest mortality rates were registered in the French outermost regions of Mayotte and Guyane, with 4.86 and 2.80 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively. They were followed by regions in southern Italy and island areas: Campania (2.65), Puglia (2.58), and Sardegna (2.48).egions in Bulgaria, the Northwest and Southeast regions, also recorded around 1.5 deaths per 100,000 people. In the remaining regions, Southwestern, Southern Central, Northern Central, and Northeastern, statistics show rates below 0.5 cases.