Life / Death
Annual deaths and life expectancy, with causes of death to follow. Each chart states its unit, years and source. Figures before 2024 are UN estimates; later years are projections.
Leading causes of death
Cause-of-death figures on this site come from the Global Burden of Disease study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). They are not shown here yet: our extract is still being prepared under IHME's user agreement.
Until then, the authoritative interactive view is IHME's own tool.
GBD Compare (IHME) · WHO Global Health Estimates
When shown, cause-of-death totals will differ from the UN figures on the home page because they come from a separate model.
Life expectancy at birth
Period life expectancy at birth, both sexes, years, World and the six UN geographic regions, 1950–2023 ESTIMATED
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, Online Edition. Column LEx. Method · Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO
Deaths per year, world
Total deaths per year, persons, 1950–2026. Solid: estimates to 2023 ESTIMATED. Dashed: medium-variant projection PROJECTED
This chart shows counts, not rates. Annual deaths rise mainly because the population is larger and older; age-standardised death rates have fallen over the same period.
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, Online Edition. Column Deaths. Method · Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO