In 2022, Germany had an overall crude death rate of 13 per 1,000 people. In comparison, the death rate in South Korea was seven per 1,000 people. This statistic represents a ranking of select developed and developing countries based on death rates as of 2022.

As of 2023, the countries with the highest death rates worldwide were Monaco, Bulgaria, and Latvia. In these countries, there were ** to ** deaths per 1,000 people. The country with the lowest death rate is Qatar, where there is just *** death per 1,000 people. Leading causes of death The leading causes of death worldwide are, by far, cardiovascular diseases, accounting for ** percent of all deaths in 2021. That year, there were **** million deaths worldwide from ischaemic heart disease and **** million from stroke. Interestingly, a worldwide survey from that year found that people greatly underestimate the proportion of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease, but overestimate the proportion of deaths caused by suicide, interpersonal violence, and substance use disorders. Death in the United States In 2023, there were around **** million deaths in the United States. The leading causes of death in the United States are currently heart disease and cancer, accounting for a combined ** percent of all deaths in 2023. Lung and bronchus cancer is the deadliest form of cancer worldwide, as well as in the United States. In the U.S. this form of cancer is predicted to cause around ****** deaths among men alone in the year 2025. Prostate cancer is the second-deadliest cancer for men in the U.S. while breast cancer is the second deadliest for women. In 2023, the tenth leading cause of death in the United States was COVID-19. Deaths due to COVID-19 resulted in a significant rise in the total number of deaths in the U.S. in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019, and it was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. during those years.

The average for 2022 based on 195 countries was 8.37 deaths per 1000 people. The highest value was in Ukraine: 21.4 deaths per 1000 people and the lowest value was in Qatar: 1.08 deaths per 1000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2024, Myanmar had the highest crude death rate among the Southeast Asian countries, with 8.9 deaths per thousand population. That year, Singapore had the lowest crude death rate, with 5.4 deaths per thousand population.Factors that influence the death rateThe death rate, also called mortality rate, is generally influenced by various factors such as the social environment, diseases, health facilities and services as well as the food supply of the respective countries. Myanmar’s government spent five percent of its public budget on health in 2016. In 2020, health expenditure per capita in Myanmar amounted to around 72 U.S. dollars. The Maldives had the lowest crude death rate in the Asia-Pacific region in 2024. There, health expenditure accounted for 13.73 percent of the country’s GDP. Furthermore, the share of undernourished people was at around three percent in Myanmar in 2020. Within Southeast Asia, Myanmar has also been one of the poorest countries. In 2020, the country’s GDP per capita was estimated at 1.15 thousand U.S. dollars, the lowest across the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2023, with just *** death per one thousand people, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were the countries with the lowest death rates worldwide. This statistic shows a ranking of the 20 countries with the lowest death rates worldwide, as of 2023. Health in high-income countries Countries with the highest life expectancies are also often high-income countries with well-developed economic, social and health care systems, providing adequate resources and access to treatment for health concerns. Health care expenditure as a share of GDP varies per country; for example, spending in the United States is higher than in other OECD countries due to higher costs and prices for care services and products. In developed countries, the main burden of disease is often due to non-communicable diseases occurring in old age, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. High burden in low-income countries The countries with the lowest life expectancy worldwide are all in Africa- including Nigeria, Chad, and Lesotho- with life expectancies reaching up to 20 years shorter than the average global life expectancy. Leading causes of death in low-income countries include respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases, as these countries are often hit with the double burden of infectious diseases plus non-communicable diseases, such as those related to cardiovascular pathologies. Additionally, these countries often lack the resources and infrastructure to sustain effective healthcare systems and fail to provide appropriate access and treatment for their populations.

The average for 2021 based on 187 countries was 20 deaths per 1000 live births. The highest value was in Sierra Leone: 78 deaths per 1000 live births and the lowest value was in San Marino: 1 deaths per 1000 live births. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Graph and download economic data for Infant Mortality Rate for Low and Middle Income Countries (SPDYNIMRTINLMY) from 1990 to 2023 about mortality, infant, income, and rate.

Graph and download economic data for Infant Mortality Rate for Least Developed Countries (SPDYNIMRTINLDC) from 1990 to 2023 about mortality, infant, and rate.

The average for 2022 based on 53 countries was 8.2 deaths per 1000 people. The highest value was in Lesotho: 14.07 deaths per 1000 people and the lowest value was in Algeria: 4.33 deaths per 1000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2021, the average mortality rate across OECD countries from treatable causes stood at 79 deaths per 100,000 population. This varied widely from just 39 deaths in Switzerland to 257 treatable deaths in South Africa per 100,000 population. The OECD defines treatable (or amenable) mortality as causes of death that can be mainly avoided through timely and effective health care interventions including secondary prevention and treatment (i.e. after the onset of disease, to reduce case fatality). Preventable mortality is defined as causes of death amongst people aged under 75 years that can be mainly avoided through effective public health and primary prevention interventions (i.e. before the onset of disease/injury, to reduce incidence).
This statistic presents the mortality rates from treatable causes in OECD countries in 2021, by country.

The average for 2022 based on 7 countries was 10.71 deaths per 1000 people. The highest value was in Japan: 12.9 deaths per 1000 people and the lowest value was in Canada: 8.6 deaths per 1000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

All-cause mortality rates of selected European countries and regions. Breakdowns include sex and broad age group for selected countries and cities.

The average for 2022 based on 187 countries was 27 deaths per 1000 births. The highest value was in Niger: 121 deaths per 1000 births and the lowest value was in Estonia: 2 deaths per 1000 births. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Graph and download economic data for Infant Mortality Rate for Developing Countries in Europe and Central Asia (SPDYNIMRTINECA) from 1990 to 2023 about Central Asia, mortality, infant, Europe, and rate.

The average for 2020 based on 182 countries was 138 deaths per 100,000 births. The highest value was in Chad: 1063 deaths per 100,000 births and the lowest value was in Belarus: 1 deaths per 100,000 births. The indicator is available from 2000 to 2020. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2020 based on 41 countries was 9 deaths per 100,000 births. The highest value was in Cyprus: 68 deaths per 100,000 births and the lowest value was in Belarus: 1 deaths per 100,000 births. The indicator is available from 2000 to 2020. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

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.

This horizontal bar chart displays suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 population) by country using the aggregation average, weighted by population. The data is about countries.

This dataset is about countries per year in Hungary. It has 64 rows. It features 3 columns: country, and suicide mortality rate.

The average for 2022 based on 27 countries was 11.47 deaths per 1000 people. The highest value was in Bulgaria: 18.4 deaths per 1000 people and the lowest value was in Luxembourg: 6.8 deaths per 1000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.