Approximately 14.9 million deaths globally were directly or indirectly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic by the end 2021, the WHO said in this new data on excess mortality attributable to the disease. 

New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic (described as “excess mortality”) between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 was approximately 14.9 million (range 13.3 million to 16.6 million).