The UK has suffered the highest coronavirus death rate in the world when excess deaths are taken into account, according to new analysis.
The country has seen 59,537 more deaths than usual since March 20, three days before the lockdown was announced.
This means the virus has directly or indirectly killed 891 people per million, analysis by the Financial Times suggests.
That is a higher death rate than any other country providing detailed data, including Italy and the US.
Italy was the European country hardest hit by the virus in the early stages of the crisis, although the UK and US have subsequently recorded more excess deaths.
Despite the US suffering more than 100,000 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in the world, its excess death rate is still lower than the UK as it has a population of 328 million.
The data used by the Financial Times was from national statistical organisations in 19 countries, including all European countries hard hit by coronavirus.
These were the only countries for which enough information could be found to make proper comparisons.
The actual number of excess deaths in the UK is the highest in Europe, with only the US recording more globally.
Peru is the only country that has recorded a higher percentage increase in deaths than the UK since the pandemic started.
While countries like China and Russia have suffered many fatalities, the overall death rate is much lower than the UK because of their large populations.
The Government said it was 'wrong and premature' to draw conclusions at this stage and claimed excess deaths should take age into consideration.
Downing Street told the Financial Times: "We will, of course, learn lessons from our response to this virus, but these must be drawn from an accurate international analysis in the future."
The newspaper said its analysis showed the rate of excess deaths in the UK was still the highest in the world regardless of whether young people are excluded or if the focus is solely on pensioners.
