The number of deaths increased over the first eight months of 2026 after a “particularly deadly summer”, according to INSEE

The number of deaths recorded between January and August 2026 increased slightly compared to the same period in 2025, according to an INSEE study released Thursday October 15. And this is due to a “particularly deadly summer”, the hottest on record, notes the National Institute of Statistics. Over the first eight months of the year, the number of deaths increased slightly (+0.5%) year-on-year.

The flu epidemic, less virulent in 2026 than in 2025, contributed to a drop in deaths at the start of the year, before the curves crossed during the summer. “The month of June 2026 was particularly atypical, with an increase in the number of deaths (from all causes) of 12% compared to June 2025,” writes INSEE. “This increase in summer deaths can be linked to the heatwave episodes which took place during the summer of 2026 and which affected almost all of mainland France,” adds the institute.

The summer of 2026, marked by an almost uninterrupted succession of heatwaves, caused nearly 8,000 excess deaths in France, according to provisional data from health authorities, released in mid-September.