A newly released study has found that economic sanctions imposed by the United States or the European Union have been linked to over 500,000 deaths annually. The research, conducted by academics at the University of Denver and the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., examined the impact of sanctions on mortality rates across 152 countries spanning from 1971 to 2021.
The study’s findings suggest a significantly higher mortality toll attributed to sanctions than those resulting from armed conflict, which the researchers estimate to be just over 100,000.
Researchers analyzed the health consequences of sanctions using a comprehensive dataset incorporating age-specific mortality rates and sanction events. The results indicated a “significant causal link between sanctions and increased mortality, particularly concerning unilateral, economic and U.S.-imposed sanctions”. Notably, United Nations sanctions did not demonstrate a statistically significant impact.
Published in the August issue of the medical journal “The Lancet”, the study underscores the considerable detrimental effects of sanctions on public health and proposes a reassessment of their application as a tool of foreign policy.