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I think excess deaths are much more meaningfully compared if grouped by age. The life-years lost are considerably different depending on whether young or old people are dying. That distinction is made in Canadian data by this paper: https://www.jccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-rise-of-excess-and-unexplained-deaths-in-Canada_Justice-Centre.pdf

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I agree Karin, but the graph I posted takes account of age in an interesting and revealing way. It shows cumulative deaths relative to pre-pandemic projections, and the Swedish curve is downward sloping after the initial surge. The early deaths were concentrated among the elderly and those with serious co-morbidities, so in later years the population was younger and healthier relative to pre-pandemic projections and excess deaths were accordingly lower. This is part of the reason for convergence with Norway.

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