India recorded 2.1 million excess deaths in 2021, far surpassing official Covid toll

New government data reveals actual Covid-19 deaths may be up to six times higher than reported, exposing vast undercount

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — India registered over 2.1 million excess deaths in 2021, nearly six times higher than the official Covid-19 death toll for that year, according to new government data released this week. The figures offer the clearest official indication yet of a massive undercount of pandemic-related fatalities.

The data, published Wednesday in India’s Civil Registration System (CRS) report, revealed that more than 10.2 million deaths were recorded across the country in 2021—an increase of over 2.1 million compared to 2020. It marks the first time authorities have publicly acknowledged the scale of excess mortality during the second year of the pandemic.

India’s health ministry reported approximately 330,000 Covid-19 deaths in 2021.

But the CRS data shows the real death toll may be substantially higher, echoing concerns raised earlier by researchers and global agencies.

The World Health Organization estimated in 2022 that India accounted for nearly 4.7 million excess deaths over 2020 and 2021—almost ten times the government’s official tally of 480,000 for the same period.

Compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, India registered around 2.58 million more deaths in 2021—further reinforcing the argument that Covid-19 and its cascading health impacts were significantly underreported.

One of the starkest discrepancies was observed in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Official figures showed only 5,800 Covid-related deaths in 2021.

However, CRS data indicates the state experienced nearly 200,000 excess fatalities—more than 33 times the official count.

While India’s average annual death toll typically ranges between 8.1 and 8.6 million, the registration of over 10.2 million deaths in 2021 points to an estimated 1.87 million more fatalities than expected under normal conditions.

In the absence of any alternative explanation for such a surge, experts say these excess deaths are likely attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic, either directly through infection or indirectly due to strained healthcare systems and delayed treatments.

India has steadily improved its death registration coverage in recent years—from 70% in 2013 to 92% in 2019—making the 2021 CRS dataset a fairly reliable indicator of actual mortality.

The data reinforces long-standing claims by global health experts and agencies that the Modi government deliberately concealed the true number of Covid-19 deaths.

For years, researchers accused Indian authorities of suppressing mortality figures to protect the government’s image during the pandemic. The newly released data now lends official backing to those allegations, exposing how the state distorted public health records during a national crisis.