In 2024, the total number of deaths in China amounted to around ***** million. The number of deaths increased slightly but steadily over the past two decades, only disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. This trend is mainly related to China’s demographic development and is expected to accelerate in the upcoming years. China’s aging society China had the second largest population on earth in 2024. However, population growth in China has gradually decreased over the last decades and finally turned negative in 2022. Together with steadily improving health standards and growing life expectancy, this has led to a quickly aging society. As relatively large age cohorts are now reaching the years of retirement, the number of elderly in the country is projected to increase quickly. This is especially visible in the number of people aged 80 years and above, which is expected to rise more than four-fold from ** million in 2020 to *** million in 2050. This development will probably be the main factor leading to a growing number of mortalities in China in the upcoming years. China’s mortality rate in comparison Globally, China’s mortality rate is at a low range at slightly less than eight deaths per thousand inhabitants annually. The low mortality rate was a result of political stability and steady improvements in the health system. As the Chinese population grows older, cancer, heart attacks, and cerebrovascular diseases are increasingly common causes of death. In comparison to most Western countries, the number of fatalities due to COVID-19 was low in 2020 and 2021, but there was a slight excess mortality in 2023 and. Most common infectious diseases with high death rates in China were *********************************** in 2021.

As of June 6, 2022, the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that originated in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in China, had infected over 2.1 million people and killed 14,612 in the country. Hong Kong is currently the region with the highest active cases in China.

From Wuhan to the rest of China

In late December 2019, health authorities in Wuhan detected several pneumonia cases of unknown cause. Most of these patients had links to the Huanan Seafood Market. With Chinese New Year approaching, millions of Chinese migrant workers travelled back to their hometowns for the celebration. Before the start of the travel ban on January 23, around five million people had left Wuhan. By the end of January, the number of infections had surged to over ten thousand. The death toll from the virus exceeded that of the SARS outbreak a few days later. On February 12, thousands more cases were confirmed in Wuhan after an improvement to the diagnosis method, resulting in another sudden surge of confirmed cases. On March 31, 2020, the National Health Commission (NHC) in China announced that it would begin reporting the infection number of symptom-free individuals who tested positive for coronavirus. On April 17, 2020, health authorities in Wuhan revised its death toll, adding 50 percent more fatalities. After quarantine measures were implemented, the country reported no new local coronavirus COVID-19 transmissions for the first time on March 18, 2020.

The overloaded healthcare system

In Wuhan, 28 hospitals were designated to treat coronavirus patients, but the outbreak continued to test China’s disease control system and most of the hospitals were soon fully occupied. To combat the virus, the government announced plans to build a new hospital swiftly. On February 3, 2020, Huoshenshan Hospital was opened to provide an additional 1,300 beds. Due to an extreme shortage of health-care professionals in Wuhan, thousands of medical staff from all over China came voluntarily to the epicenter to offer their support. After no new deaths reported for first time, China lifted ten-week lockdown on Wuhan on April 8, 2020. Daily life was returning slowly back to normal in the country.

Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people) in China was reported at 7.87 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. China - Death rate, crude - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

China death rate for 2025 is 8.17, a 2.15% increase from 2024.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>China death rate for 2024 was <strong>8.00</strong>, a <strong>2.21% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>China death rate for 2023 was <strong>7.82</strong>, a <strong>1.82% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>China death rate for 2022 was <strong>7.68</strong>, a <strong>1.87% increase</strong> from 2021.</li>
</ul>Crude death rate indicates the number of deaths occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.

As of January 1, 2023, the case fatality rate (CFR) of coronavirus COVID-19 ranged at 0.27 percent in China, lower than the global level of 1.01 percent. Health authorities in Wuhan, the Chinese epicenter, revised its death toll on April 17, adding some 1,290 fatalities to its total count. The 50 percent increase of death cases in the city raised the overall CFR in China from 4.06 percent to 5.6 percent. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that mortality increased with age among infected patients.

COVID-19: Number of Death: Year to Date: Hubei: Wuhan data was reported at 3,869.000 Person in 13 Dec 2022. This stayed constant from the previous number of 3,869.000 Person for 12 Dec 2022. COVID-19: Number of Death: Year to Date: Hubei: Wuhan data is updated daily, averaging 3,869.000 Person from Jan 2020 (Median) to 13 Dec 2022, with 1069 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,869.000 Person in 13 Dec 2022 and a record low of 1.000 Person in 14 Jan 2020. COVID-19: Number of Death: Year to Date: Hubei: Wuhan data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Health Commission. The data is categorized under High Frequency Database’s Disease Outbreaks – Table CN.GZ: COVID-19: No of Death. Clinical diagnosis included in since 12Feb 自2月12日起纳入临床诊断

China Number of Deaths Ages 20-24 Years data was reported at 44,112.000 Person in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 45,199.000 Person for 2018. China Number of Deaths Ages 20-24 Years data is updated yearly, averaging 67,812.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 96,135.000 Person in 1991 and a record low of 44,112.000 Person in 2019. China Number of Deaths Ages 20-24 Years data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s China – Table CN.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Number of deaths of youths ages 20-24 years; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Sum; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

COVID-19: Number of Death: Hubei: True Up data was reported at 1,290.000 Person in 16 Apr 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.000 Person for 05 Apr 2020. COVID-19: Number of Death: Hubei: True Up data is updated daily, averaging 1.000 Person from Feb 2020 (Median) to 16 Apr 2020, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,290.000 Person in 16 Apr 2020 and a record low of -108.000 Person in 13 Feb 2020. COVID-19: Number of Death: Hubei: True Up data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Health Commission. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GZ: COVID-19: No of Death.

CN: Population: Death Rate: Shaanxi data was reported at 0.764 % in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.738 % for 2021. CN: Population: Death Rate: Shaanxi data is updated yearly, averaging 0.631 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2022, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.764 % in 2022 and a record low of 0.601 % in 2010. CN: Population: Death Rate: Shaanxi data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Death Rate: By Region.

This statistic shows the ranking of ten most fatal infectious diseases in China between January and July 2024, by number of deaths. During this period, over ****** people in China died from AIDS. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) has been the deadliest communicable disease in China since 2008.

In 2024, the mortality rate in China ranged at approximately 7.76 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. The mortality rate in China displayed an uneven development over the last two decades. This is mainly related to the very uneven sizes of Chinese age groups, improvements in health care, and the occurrence of epidemics. However, an overall growing trend is undisputable and related to China's aging population. As the share of the population aged 60 and above will be growing significantly over the upcoming two decades, the mortality rate will further increase in the years ahead. Population in China China was the second most populous country in the world in 2024. However, due to several mechanisms put into place by the Chinese government as well as changing circumstances in the working and social environment of the Chinese people, population growth has subsided over the past decades and finally turned negative in 2022. The major factor for this development was a set of policies introduced by the Chinese government in 1979, including the so-called one-child policy, which was intended to improve people’s living standards by limiting the population growth. However, with the decreasing birth rate and slower population growth, China nowadays is facing the problems of a rapidly aging population. Birth control in China According to the one-child policy, a married couple was only allowed to have one child. Only under certain circumstances were parents allowed to have a second child. As the performance of family control had long been related to the assessment of local government’s achievements, violations of the rule were severely punished. The birth control in China led to a decreasing birth rate and a more skewed gender ratio of new births due to a widely preference for male children in the Chinese society. Nowadays, since China’s population is aging rapidly, the one-child policy has been re-considered as an obstacle for the country’s further economic development. Since 2014, the one-child policy has been gradually relaxed and fully eliminated at the end of 2015. In May 2021, a new three-child policy has been introduced. However, many young Chinese people today are not willing to have more children due to high costs of raising a child, especially in urban areas.

China recorded 99256991 Coronavirus Cases since the epidemic began, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, China reported 5226 Coronavirus Deaths. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for China Coronavirus Cases.

CN: Population: Death Rate: Guangdong data was reported at 0.520 % in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.536 % for 2023. CN: Population: Death Rate: Guangdong data is updated yearly, averaging 0.497 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.617 % in 1992 and a record low of 0.421 % in 2010. CN: Population: Death Rate: Guangdong data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Death Rate: By Region.

Northeastern China. Damage: $5,600 million. The death toll (240,000) was one of largest in recorded history from an earthquake. In addition, around 800,000 were injured. Extensive damage occurred over a wide area.

The death rate in China increased by *** deaths per 1,000 inhabitants (+**** percent) compared to the previous year. Therefore, the death rate in China reached a peak in 2023 with **** deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. The crude death rate is the annual number of deaths divided by the total population, expressed per 1,000 people.Find more statistics on other topics about China with key insights such as total fertility rate, crude birth rate, and number of tuberculosis infections .

In 2023, China recorded 60,028 fatalities in traffic accidents across the country. The number of fatalities has increased from 60,676in the previous year. Road traffic in China The number of road traffic fatalities in China varies greatly from region to region. Guangdong and Hubei had been the provinces with the highest number of traffic fatalities. All located in the eastern coastal area of China, they had also been the regions with the most traffic accidents in 2023. On the contrary, only a small number of fatalities had been reported in central and western regions of China. Reasons for this imbalance may be found in less traffic volume as well as the existence of fewer urban congested areas.Since 2016, the number of casualties and fatalities from traffic accidents in China has increased significantly, reaching 25,3895 injuries and 60,028 deaths in 2023. Nevertheless, traffic accidents have emerged as one of the leading causes of death in China. The primary reasons may be unregulated road works and a lack of awareness among Chinese drivers. The development of neither road infrastructure nor driving behavior in China had been able to keep up with the increasing number of traffic participants and registered cars. As of 2003, only 24 million vehicles had been registered in China, whereas by 2019 that number had skyrocketed to 253.76 million cars. In 2023 alone, the number of newly registered vehicles in China had amounted to around 24.5 million cars.

CN: Population: Death Rate: Jiangxi data was reported at 0.723 % in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.736 % for 2023. CN: Population: Death Rate: Jiangxi data is updated yearly, averaging 0.624 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2024, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.754 % in 1990 and a record low of 0.596 % in 2005. CN: Population: Death Rate: Jiangxi data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Death Rate: By Region.

Hong Kong HK: Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 6.400 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.300 Ratio for 2015. Hong Kong HK: Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 5.100 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6.400 Ratio in 2016 and a record low of 4.600 Ratio in 1985. Hong Kong HK: Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Hong Kong SAR – Table HK.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude death rate indicates the number of deaths occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

This statistic shows the number of fatalities due to earthquakes in China from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, *** people died due to earthquakes in China.

Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 210 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until July 13, 2022. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 557.8 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 6.3 million. Note, however, that COVID-19 test rates can vary per country. Additionally, big differences show up between countries when combining the number of deaths against confirmed COVID-19 cases. The source seemingly does not differentiate between "the Wuhan strain" (2019-nCOV) of COVID-19, "the Kent mutation" (B.1.1.7) that appeared in the UK in late 2020, the 2021 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India or the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from South Africa.

The difficulties of death figures

This table aims to provide a complete picture on the topic, but it very much relies on data that has become more difficult to compare. As the coronavirus pandemic developed across the world, countries already used different methods to count fatalities, and they sometimes changed them during the course of the pandemic. On April 16, for example, the Chinese city of Wuhan added a 50 percent increase in their death figures to account for community deaths. These deaths occurred outside of hospitals and went unaccounted for so far. The state of New York did something similar two days before, revising their figures with 3,700 new deaths as they started to include “assumed” coronavirus victims. The United Kingdom started counting deaths in care homes and private households on April 29, adjusting their number with about 5,000 new deaths (which were corrected lowered again by the same amount on August 18). This makes an already difficult comparison even more difficult. Belgium, for example, counts suspected coronavirus deaths in their figures, whereas other countries have not done that (yet). This means two things. First, it could have a big impact on both current as well as future figures. On April 16 already, UK health experts stated that if their numbers were corrected for community deaths like in Wuhan, the UK number would change from 205 to “above 300”. This is exactly what happened two weeks later. Second, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which countries already have “revised” numbers (like Belgium, Wuhan or New York) and which ones do not. One work-around could be to look at (freely accessible) timelines that track the reported daily increase of deaths in certain countries. Several of these are available on our platform, such as for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. A sudden large increase might be an indicator that the domestic sources changed their methodology.

Where are these numbers coming from?

The numbers shown here were collected by Johns Hopkins University, a source that manually checks the data with domestic health authorities. For the majority of countries, this is from national authorities. In some cases, like China, the United States, Canada or Australia, city reports or other various state authorities were consulted. In this statistic, these separately reported numbers were put together. For more information or other freely accessible content, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.