As of 2022, the countries with the highest death rates worldwide were Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Moldova. In these countries, there were 17 to 21 deaths per 1,000 people. The country with the lowest death rate is Qatar, where there is just one death per 1,000 people. Leading causes of death The leading causes of death worldwide are by far, ischaemic heart disease and stroke, accounting for a combined 27 percent of all deaths in 2019. In that year, there were 8.89 million deaths worldwide from ischaemic heart disease and 6.19 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 2022, there were around 3.27 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 40 percent of all deaths in 2022. 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 65,790 deaths among men alone in the year 2024. Prostate cancer is the second-deadliest cancer for men in the U.S. while breast cancer is the second deadliest for women. In 2022, the fourth 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.

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.

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.

Chart and table of the World death rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

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.

This horizontal bar chart displays death rate (per 1,000 people) by country using the aggregation average, weighted by population and is filtered where the region is Caribbean. The data is about countries per year.

This bar chart displays death rate (per 1,000 people) by country and is filtered where the country is Nauru. The data is about countries per year.

This bar chart displays death rate (per 1,000 people) by country full name using the aggregation average, weighted by population and is filtered where the country is St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The data is about countries per year.

Chart and table of the Africa death rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

In 2023, Japan had the highest death rate in the Asia-Pacific region, with 12.8 deaths per one thousand population. In comparison, the death rate for the population of the Maldives amounted to 2.8 deaths for every one thousand inhabitants in that year.

In 2022, with just one death per one thousand people, Qatar was the country with the lowest death rate worldwide. This statistic shows a ranking of the 20 countries with the lowest death rates worldwide, as of 2022. 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 Chad, Lesotho, and Nigeria- 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.

This dataset provides values for CORONAVIRUS DEATHS reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

The indicator measures the standardised death rate of homicide and injuries inflicted by another person with the intent to injure or kill by any means, including ‘late effects’ from assault (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes X85 to Y09 and Y87.1). It does not include deaths due to legal interventions or war (ICD codes Y35 and Y36). The rate is calculated by dividing the number of people dying due to homicide or assault by the total population. Data on causes of death (COD) refer to the underlying cause which - according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - is "the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury". COD data are derived from death certificates. The medical certification of death is an obligation in all Member States. The data are presented as standardised death rates, meaning they are adjusted to a standard age distribution in order to measure death rates independently of different age structures of populations. This approach improves comparability over time and between countries. The standardised death rates used here are calculated on the basis of the standard European population referring to the residents of the countries.

This bar chart displays death rate (per 1,000 people) by countries yearly using the aggregation average, weighted by population and is filtered where the country is Jordan. The data is about countries per year.

Trends in Covid total deaths per million. The latest data for over 100 countries around the world.

Graph and download economic data for Infant Mortality Rate for Low Income Countries (SPDYNIMRTINLIC) from 1990 to 2022 about mortality, infant, income, and rate.

This bar chart displays death rate (per 1,000 people) by country using the aggregation average, weighted by population and is filtered where the country is São Tomé and Principe. The data is about countries per year.

Saudi Arabia SA: Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 11.100 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 11.400 Ratio for 2015. Saudi Arabia SA: Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 26.500 Ratio from Dec 1972 (Median) to 2016, with 45 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 111.400 Ratio in 1972 and a record low of 11.100 Ratio in 2016. Saudi Arabia SA: Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Saudi Arabia – Table SA.World Bank: Health Statistics. Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted Average; Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

Global Suicide Mortality Rate by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

This bar chart displays death rate (per 1,000 people) by country full name using the aggregation average, weighted by population. The data is about countries.