Heat kills 15,800 in Germany in 2026, beating decade-old record

Some 15,800 people have died from heat in Germany up to mid-August this year, according to estimates released by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Thursday, with 9,600 of those deaths attributed to the extreme heat at the end of June.

The RKI, Germany's disease control and prevention authority, said in its latest weekly report that a further 4,000 deaths were linked to particularly high temperatures in the first two weeks of August, with the report covering the period from April 6 to August 16.

This year has seen significantly more heat-related deaths than in any of the past 10 years at least. The highest figures since 2016 had previously been recorded in 2019, with 7,600 heat deaths, and in 2018, with 9,500.

Figures for previous years vary slightly compared with earlier RKI data. A spokeswoman said this was because the estimates are recalculated every month - including for past years.

The RKI said its figures represent conservative estimates, meaning the total number of heat deaths this year could be even higher.

Uwe Janssens, medical chief executive of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), said recently that many cases were not recorded as heat-related because death certificates listed causes such as organ failure.

According to the RKI, heat leads directly to death in some cases - for example in heatstroke. In most cases, however, those affected die from a combination of heat and pre-existing conditions.

More than half of this year's heat deaths - around 7,960 - were among people aged 85 and over, the RKI said. Around 3,900 people died in the 75-to-84 age group, around 2,440 were between 65 and 74, and 1,470 were under 65.

Overall, more women than men died as a result of the heat. The RKI said this was because women make up a larger share of the elderly population.

The RKI calculates its figures on the basis of mortality data from the Federal Statistical Office, combined with data from 52 weather stations operated by the German Weather Service (DWD).

The RKI said a heat-related rise in mortality typically becomes visible from a weekly mean temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, meaning the average of daytime and nighttime temperatures over a week.