During the first wave of Covid, mortality among people born abroad was higher than that in the general population. These populations have experienced an excess mortality twice as high.

The number of deaths increased in general by 9% last year compared to 2019 in France, with 669,000 deaths. That of foreigners jumped 17%, says the National Institute of Statistics.

“During the first wave of the pandemic, the increase in deaths of people born abroad was 2.1 times higher on average than that of people born in France,” he writes, providing an unprecedented overview of the impact of the health crisis on this population.

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Native to Africa and Asia

In detail, excess mortality has hit people from Africa above all, with an increase of 21% among those born in the Maghreb (40,100 deaths) and 36% among those born in another African country (7,400).

Patients from Asia have also experienced a high excess mortality, with a jump of 29% of deaths (6,300), while those from Europe, America or Oceania have recorded an increase in their mortality “close to that observed for people born in France “.

If INSEE affirms that its study “does not make it possible to explain the difference in excess mortality” between these two populations, it nevertheless notes that the gap widened especially in the months of March and April 2020, when the epidemic situation worsened. leads to the first confinement.

Almost 50% increase

Over these two months, “from all causes combined, the deaths of people born abroad increased by 49%” compared to the same period of 2019, against 23% among those born in France.

In particular, INSEE data reveal that during this period, excess mortality peaked at 55% among North Africans, 117% among the rest of Africans and 92% among Asians.

The role of precariousness

These factual data support the idea, supported by certain surveys published in recent months by associations, that the most precarious migrants have experienced overexposure to the virus.

Thus, a study conducted by Médecins sans frontières (MSF) in the summer of 2020, published in October, highlighted a “huge” prevalence among these people.

According to MSF, the rate of Covid-19 positivity reached 50% in accommodation centers and 89% in homes for migrant workers in Île-de-France, mainly populated by African nationals.

To read also: Vaccination of the homeless: “The coronavirus is a revealing of dramatic inequalities”

Hecatomb in Ile-de-France

The INSEE study, too, highlights that “the increase in deaths has been particularly strong in Île-de-France”, with a 93% increase in deaths in March-April 2020, compared to the same period of the previous year.

“Île-de-France concentrates 42% of the excess deaths during the first wave and even 67% for people born in Africa or Asia,” reports the Institute.

Who explains: “The latter reside much more often than the average in Île-de-France”, where are concentrated 32% of people born in the Maghreb and 49% of people born in the rest of Africa, against only 16% of those born in France.