Israel in international comparison

07.05.2020

This page contains graphs, updated daily (latest 4.Apr.2020), that describe coronavirus infections per capita and deaths per capita in the 36 OECD countries plus Taiwan.

I use data from the CSSE at Johns Hopkins, merging them with UN population estimates from 2019. The graphs are divided by region within the OECD. Graphs on the left are infections per capita, and graphs on the right are deaths per capita (note the different scales on the Y-axis).

From an Israeli perspective, the general result of these comparisons is clear. In terms of infections per capita, Israel’s rate is close to the average for Western and Southern European countries, and is higher than almost all Scandinavian and Eastern European countries. In Europe, Israel’s infection rate most closely tracks Germany (with a delay of 3-4 days). Moving beyond Europe, the trajectory of Israel’s infections per capita was virtually identical to that of the US from mid-March until early April, and has shot well beyond other Anglophone countries (Canada, Australia, NZ), and beyond East Asian OECD countries.

This increase is not the right trajectory. As we show elsewhere even though the increase in infections has slowed over the last 2 weeks, it has now been in the 3-4% range for about 4 days. That means more than 300 new cases per day.

There is even better news for Israel in terms of deaths. Per capita mortality from coronavirus in Israel is less than 10% of the level in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK, less than 20% of the level in the US, and Sweden. And it is even less than half of the level in Germany, which is emerging as one of the medical stars of this pandemic.

Israel and European OECD countries
baltcwest europe1med1
Israel and non-European OECD countries
north america australia1east asia1

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