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

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.

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.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in the global death rate, but had little to no significant impact on birth rates, causing population growth to dip slightly. On a global level, population growth is determined by the difference between the birth and death rate, and this is known as the rate of natural change - on a national or regional level, population change is also affected by migration. Ongoing trends Since the middle of the 20th century, the global birth rate has been well above the global death rate, however, the gap between these figures has grown closer in recent years. The death rate is projected to overtake the birth rate in the 2080s, which means that the world's population will then go into decline. In the future, death rates will increase due to ageing populations across the world and a plateau in life expectancy. Why does this change? There are many reasons for falling death and birth rates in recent decades. Falling death rates have been driven by a reduction in infant and child mortality, as well as increased life expectancy. Falling birth rates were also driven by the reduction in child mortality, whereby mothers would have fewer children as survival rates rose - other factors include the drop in child marriage, improved contraception access and efficacy, and women choosing to have children later in life.

Norway NO: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 2.600 Ratio in 2017. This stayed constant from the previous number of 2.600 Ratio for 2016. Norway NO: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 9.550 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 22.600 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 2.600 Ratio in 2017. Norway NO: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Norway – Table NO.World Bank: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified 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.

Mali ML: Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 68.000 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 69.600 Ratio for 2015. Mali ML: Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 131.200 Ratio from Dec 1963 (Median) to 2016, with 54 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 213.400 Ratio in 1963 and a record low of 68.000 Ratio in 2016. Mali ML: 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 Mali – Table ML.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.

This statistic shows the 20 countries* with the highest infant mortality rate in 2024. An estimated 101.3 infants per 1,000 live births died in the first year of life in Afghanistan in 2024. Infant and child mortality Infant mortality usually refers to the death of children younger than one year. Child mortality, which is often used synonymously with infant mortality, is the death of children younger than five. Among the main causes are pneumonia, diarrhea – which causes dehydration – and infections in newborns, with malnutrition also posing a severe problem. As can be seen above, most countries with a high infant mortality rate are developing countries or emerging countries, most of which are located in Africa. Good health care and hygiene are crucial in reducing child mortality; among the countries with the lowest infant mortality rate are exclusively developed countries, whose inhabitants usually have access to clean water and comprehensive health care. Access to vaccinations, antibiotics and a balanced nutrition also help reducing child mortality in these regions. In some countries, infants are killed if they turn out to be of a certain gender. India, for example, is known as a country where a lot of girls are aborted or killed right after birth, as they are considered to be too expensive for poorer families, who traditionally have to pay a costly dowry on the girl’s wedding day. Interestingly, the global mortality rate among boys is higher than that for girls, which could be due to the fact that more male infants are actually born than female ones. Other theories include a stronger immune system in girls, or more premature births among boys.

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

Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 4.500 Ratio in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.600 Ratio for 2021. Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 7.100 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2022, with 63 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 28.600 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 4.500 Ratio in 2022. Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Canada – Table CA.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, female is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn female baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to female age-specific mortality rates of the specified 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. 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. This is a sex-disaggregated indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

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.

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.

BackgroundGlobal and regional projections of mortality and burden of disease by cause for the years 2000, 2010, and 2030 were published by Murray and Lopez in 1996 as part of the Global Burden of Disease project. These projections, which are based on 1990 data, continue to be widely quoted, although they are substantially outdated; in particular, they substantially underestimated the spread of HIV/AIDS. To address the widespread demand for information on likely future trends in global health, and thereby to support international health policy and priority setting, we have prepared new projections of mortality and burden of disease to 2030 starting from World Health Organization estimates of mortality and burden of disease for 2002. This paper describes the methods, assumptions, input data, and results. Methods and FindingsRelatively simple models were used to project future health trends under three scenarios—baseline, optimistic, and pessimistic—based largely on projections of economic and social development, and using the historically observed relationships of these with cause-specific mortality rates. Data inputs have been updated to take account of the greater availability of death registration data and the latest available projections for HIV/AIDS, income, human capital, tobacco smoking, body mass index, and other inputs. In all three scenarios there is a dramatic shift in the distribution of deaths from younger to older ages and from communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional causes to noncommunicable disease causes. The risk of death for children younger than 5 y is projected to fall by nearly 50% in the baseline scenario between 2002 and 2030. The proportion of deaths due to noncommunicable disease is projected to rise from 59% in 2002 to 69% in 2030. Global HIV/AIDS deaths are projected to rise from 2.8 million in 2002 to 6.5 million in 2030 under the baseline scenario, which assumes coverage with antiretroviral drugs reaches 80% by 2012. Under the optimistic scenario, which also assumes increased prevention activity, HIV/AIDS deaths are projected to drop to 3.7 million in 2030. Total tobacco-attributable deaths are projected to rise from 5.4 million in 2005 to 6.4 million in 2015 and 8.3 million in 2030 under our baseline scenario. Tobacco is projected to kill 50% more people in 2015 than HIV/AIDS, and to be responsible for 10% of all deaths globally. The three leading causes of burden of disease in 2030 are projected to include HIV/AIDS, unipolar depressive disorders, and ischaemic heart disease in the baseline and pessimistic scenarios. Road traffic accidents are the fourth leading cause in the baseline scenario, and the third leading cause ahead of ischaemic heart disease in the optimistic scenario. Under the baseline scenario, HIV/AIDS becomes the leading cause of burden of disease in middle- and low-income countries by 2015. ConclusionsThese projections represent a set of three visions of the future for population health, based on certain explicit assumptions. Despite the wide uncertainty ranges around future projections, they enable us to appreciate better the implications for health and health policy of currently observed trends, and the likely impact of fairly certain future trends, such as the ageing of the population, the continued spread of HIV/AIDS in many regions, and the continuation of the epidemiological transition in developing countries. The results depend strongly on the assumption that future mortality trends in poor countries will have a relationship to economic and social development similar to those that have occurred in the higher-income countries.

UNICEF's country profile for Indonesia, including under-five mortality rates, child health, education and sanitation data.

Laos LA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 63.400 Ratio in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 65.600 Ratio for 2016. Laos LA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 121.450 Ratio from Dec 1978 (Median) to 2017, with 40 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 214.400 Ratio in 1978 and a record low of 63.400 Ratio in 2017. Laos LA: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Laos – Table LA.World Bank: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified 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.

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

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.

Under-5 mortality rate of World slipped by 2.62% from 38.1 deaths per thousand live births in 2021 to 37.1 deaths per thousand live births in 2022. Since the 3.85% downward trend in 2012, under-5 mortality rate sank by 21.73% in 2022. Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to current age-specific mortality rates.

The Global Subnational Infant Mortality Rates, Version 2.01 consist of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) estimates for 234 countries and territories, 143 of which include subnational Units. The data are benchmarked to the year 2015 (Version 1 was benchmarked to the year 2000), and are drawn from national offices, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), and other sources from 2006 to 2014. In addition to Infant Mortality Rates, Version 2.01 includes crude estimates of births and infant deaths, which could be aggregated or disaggregated to different geographies to calculate infant mortality rates at different scales or resolutions, where births are the rate denominator and infant deaths are the rate numerator. Boundary inputs are derived primarily from the Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4) data collection. National and subnational data are mapped to grid cells at a spatial resolution of 30 arc-seconds (~1 km) (Version 1 has a spatial resolution of 1/4 degree, ~28 km at the equator), allowing for easy integration with demographic, environmental, and other spatial data.

This layer contains population counts and 10 indicators of global population and maternal health by country. Layer is rendered to show the percent of married women ages 15-49 using any contraception. Data is from Population Reference Bureau's 2017 World Population Data Sheet or from their DataFinder site. Fields included are:Population, mid-2017 (reported in millions)Percent of Population Ages <15Percent of Population Ages 65+Male Life Expectancy at BirthFemale Life Expectancy at BirthTotal Fertility Rate: Children per WomanInfant Mortality Rate: Infant Deaths per 1,000 BirthsMaternal Mortality Rate: Maternal Deaths per 100,000 Births (from DataFinder, data from 2013)% Births Attended by Skilled Health Personnel (from DataFinder, year of most recent data available is different for each country, oldest is 2011)% Married Women Ages 15-49 Using Modern Contraception*% Married Women Ages 15-49 Using Any Contraception**Null values indicate that data is not available.*Modern methods include anything that requires supplies or trips to a clinic: condom, pill, injection, IUD, sterilization, etc.**Any method includes modern methods as well as abstinence, fertility awareness/cycle beads, withdrawal, and any other methods that do not require supplies or clinics.For detailed definitions, sources, and footnotes, see page 20 of PRB's 2017 World Population Data Sheet and PRB's DataFinder site.

Child mortality rate of Marshall Islands slipped by 3.38% from 29.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021 to 28.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022. Since the 1.55% downward trend in 2012, child mortality rate sank by 24.93% in 2022. Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to current age-specific mortality rates.