Mortality rate


Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in some population, of an ongoing treatment, or a significant length of time after an acute treatment.

Note that the crude death rate as defined above and applied to a whole population can give a misleading impression. For example, the number of deaths per 1000 people can be higher for developed nations than in less-developed countries, despite standards of health being better in developed countries. This is because developed countries have relatively more older people, who are more likely to die in a given year, so that the overall mortality rate can be higher even if the mortality rate at any given age is lower. A more complete picture of mortality is given by a life table which summarises mortality separately at each age. A life table is necessary to give a good estimate of life expectancy.

Statistics

The ten countries with the highest infant mortality rate are:

  1. Angola 192.50
  2. Afghanistan 165.96
  3. Sierra Leone 145.24
  4. Mozambique 137.08
  5. Liberia 130.51
  6. Niger 122.66
  7. Somalia 118.52
  8. Mali 117.99
  9. Tajikistan 112.10
  10. Guinea-Bissau 108.72

According to the World Health Organisation, the 10 leading causes of death in 2002 were:

  1. 12.6% Ischaemic heart disease
  2. 9.7% Cerebrovascular disease
  3. 6.8% Lower respiratory infections
  4. 4.9% HIV/AIDS
  5. 4.8% Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  6. 3.2% Diarrhoeal diseases
  7. 2.7% Tuberculosis
  8. 2.2% Malaria
  9. 2.2% Trachea/bronchus/lung cancers
  10. 2.1% Road traffic accidents

Causes of death vary greatly between developed and developing countries. See List of causes of death by rate for worldwide statistics.

Factors affecting a country's death rate

Sources and references

External links

See also


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