According to preliminary data published by the Federal Statistical Office, approximately 230,428 individuals died in Germany during the third quarter of 2026. The period followed a historic heatwave that affected the final complete week of June at the close of the second quarter, during which mortality figures exceeded the median figures of the previous four years by 36 percent. Elevated mortality persisted into the following week covering the transition from June to July, with figures standing 28 percent above average levels. A subsequent heatwave occurred during calendar weeks 31 and 32, spanning from July 27 to August 9, resulting in weekly mortality figures that again exceeded the corresponding multi-year medians by 4 percent. Statistical authorities noted that heightened health burdens associated with extreme heat regularly lead to elevated death counts during the summer months.
Outside of the specific heatwave periods, mortality figures across the third quarter predominantly remained below comparative levels from prior years, dropping by as much as 9 percent during calendar week 36, which ran from August 31 to September 6. Broken down by individual months, the percentage difference compared to the respective median values for the years 2022 to 2025 stood at a 4 percent increase for July, a 2 percent decrease for August, and a 5 percent decrease for September. Across the entire third quarter, total deaths were approximately 3,000 cases lower than the comparative values from previous years. By contrast, mortality during the single month of June alone exceeded the four-year median by nearly 8,000 cases.
The impact of the summer heatwaves extended to several other European nations, according to comparative monitoring conducted by the EuroMOMO network, which evaluates mortality trends utilizing independent projections of incomplete reports. The most pronounced deviations during the summer heatwaves occurred at the end of the second quarter in late June, when countries including France and Belgium registered very high excess mortality classifications. During calendar week 27, spanning from June 29 to July 5, excess mortality was additionally categorized as high in Belgium, and as moderate in Austria and Switzerland. Several other European countries registered low excess mortality during the same weekly period. Throughout the subsequent weeks of the summer season, European monitoring identified only isolated and minor deviations from expected baseline mortality developments across the region. Detailed evaluations containing daily, weekly, and monthly breakdowns, alongside methodological notes, are maintained by the statistical office, while further contextual analysis concerning heat and mortality is published by the Robert Koch Institute in its weekly reports on heat-related mortality.
