Germany reports record 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer

Germany registered a record of around 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer as Europe struggled through a series of punishing heatwaves, official data showed on Thursday.

Around 9,600 of those deaths were recorded in one week in late June when Germany baked in temperatures of over 40C, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

The heatwaves and drought have fuelled a historically hot summer in Europe, contributing to a spike in heat-related mortality in the worst-hit countries.

Spain’s public health institute registered nearly 4,500 heat-related deaths since 1 June, figures showed on Thursday and French health authorities said they had seen more than 7,300 excess deaths over the same period.

In Germany, the largest share of heat-related deaths occurred in the over-75 age group, the public health authority said in a statement.

“In some cases, such as heatstroke, exposure to heat leads directly to death, whereas in most instances, death results from a combination of heat exposure and pre-existing medical conditions,” the report said.

“Consequently, heat is not usually listed as the underlying cause of death on the death certificate; instead, statistical methods must be employed to estimate the extent of heat-related deaths.”

The institute said it has collected such heat mortality data for the past decade and that the previous record was 8,900 heat-related deaths in 2018. A separate report by a medical publication had estimated 10,000 heat deaths in 1994.

In some years, heat deaths had dropped below 2,000, said the report, adding that “these differences can be attributed to the varying severity of the heatwaves.”

This summer, heat and drought have battered Europe’s biggest economy, also fuelling wildfires, reducing crop yields and dropping water levels in major rivers used for cargo shipping.

This week ministers from the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior coalition partners to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives, said Berlin must enshrine the need for “climate adaptation and nature conservation” in the German constitution, known as the Basic Law.

The SPD’s Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said the climate crisis was now a “tangible reality” but that current law limits what his ministry can do in response, including in helping states and local governments.

The group of ministers urged changes to urban planning legislation and building codes and new labour laws to address working in high temperatures.

Heat impacts hospitals, nursing homes

The party’s former health minister, Karl Lauterbach, supported the push on Thursday, arguing that municipalities need financial help to adapt to a changing climate.

“Effective heat protection costs a lot of money,” he told the Rheinische Post daily. “Many municipalities are heavily in debt and simply cannot finance the necessary measures on their own.”

Earlier this month the German Association of Towns and Municipalities argued that billions are needed to help hospitals and nursing homes, which often have no air-conditioning, adapt to scorching temperatures.

“Hospitals need air conditioning, not only for patients but also for staff,” its president Ralph Spiegler told the Rheinische Post. “We see an immense need for investment here, estimated at a minimum of €20 billion.”

“It is also essential to specifically address the situation in retirement and nursing homes in order to account for climate change and equip their facilities in a way that is adapted to the climate.”

Lauterbach, who has a doctoral degree in medical science, said the true number of heat deaths this year may be even higher than the statistics indicate.

“The Robert Koch Institute employs a rather conservative methodology,” he said. “This means the number of heat-related deaths is likely being underestimated.”

In general, heat-related deaths are not easily captured, he said.

“Very few people die of classic heatstroke during hot weather,” he said, with most deaths occurring in combination with other conditions.

“For instance, high heat stress can contribute to a stroke developing from pre-existing atrial fibrillation. Formally, the person might die of a stroke, but without the heat, it might not have happened.”