In 2021, excess deaths in Bengal exceed the official COVID-19 death toll by over four times.

• West Bengal registered 86,736 excess deaths between 2020 and 2021, over four times the official COVID-19 death toll.

• A total of 20,619 deaths were reported from March 17, 2020 to January 31, 2022.

• The spike in deaths between 2020 and 2021 is higher than the spike between 2019 and 2020.

• 73,009 (approximately 84%) of these excess deaths occurred in rural areas.

• Rural males were the single most affected subgroup, with 43,729 excess deaths over one year.

• Hooghly recorded the highest annual spike in deaths in 2021 from 2020.

• The gap between the State’s official COVID-19 death toll and the total registered deaths in 2021 indicates a large number of COVID-19 patients could not be adequately diagnosed or treated.

• North 24 Parganas and Howrah reported a sudden decrease in registered deaths in a year, indicating a need for deeper investigation.