Deaths from viral hepatitis in the EU fell to 3,172 in 2023, the lowest total recorded since Eurostat’s data series began in 2011.
The 2023 figure was down 9.3% from 2022, when 3,499 deaths were reported, and 53.7% lower than in 2013, when deaths stood at 6,856, Eurostat reported on Tuesday.
Men accounted for 58.3% of viral hepatitis deaths in 2023.
People under 65 made up 35.7% of hepatitis-related deaths, compared with 14.8% for deaths from all causes.
At EU level, viral hepatitis caused 0.64 deaths per 100,000 people in 2023.
Italy recorded the highest standardised death rate — a measure that adjusts for differences in age structure between populations — at 1.62 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Latvia at 1.54 and Austria at 1.02.
Luxembourg recorded no deaths from hepatitis in 2023, while Finland reported 0.07 deaths per 100,000 people and Slovenia 0.13.
Regional hotspots in Italy and France
Fifteen regions across the EU recorded at least 1.5 deaths from viral hepatitis per 100,000 inhabitants, including 10 regions in Italy and two in France, Eurostat reported.
The highest rates were in the French outermost regions of Mayotte and Guyane, at 4.86 and 2.80 deaths per 100,000 people.
Several regions in southern Italy and the islands also recorded elevated rates, including Campania at 2.65 deaths per 100,000 people, Puglia at 2.58 and Sardegna at 2.48.
The figures were published ahead of World Hepatitis Day, marked each year on 28 July.
