Death rate measures the number of deaths in a population over a given period, usually expressed per 1,000 people per year. A country with a death rate of 10 has 10 deaths per 1,000 residents annually. The rate is shaped by healthcare access, nutrition, sanitation, violence, and the age structure of the population. A country with many elderly people will have a higher crude death rate than one with a young population, even if its healthcare is better.

Death rates have fallen dramatically over the past century. Global average life expectancy rose from around 32 years in 1900 to over 70 today. Vaccines, antibiotics, clean water, and safer childbirth drove most of the improvement. But progress is uneven. In some regions, conflict, poverty, and weak health systems keep death rates high. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp but temporary spike in many countries. Demographers distinguish crude death rate, which counts all deaths, from age-specific death rates, which reveal patterns by age group.

Related measures

• Crude death rate: deaths per 1,000 people per year.
• Infant mortality rate: deaths under age one per 1,000 births.
• Life expectancy: average years of life at birth.
• Natural increase: births minus deaths.

Death rate alone does not tell you how healthy a population is. You need to know who is dying and why.