List of countries by death rate

With 11.48 million deaths projected in 2026, China has the highest number of deaths per year in the world, followed by India with 9.89 million. China and India are the only two countries projected to record more than 10,000 deaths per day, largely due to their large populations.

Only ten countries are projected to record more than one million deaths in 2026. Of these, five are in Asia, two are in Europe, and one each is in Africa, North America, and South America. All other countries are projected to record fewer than one million deaths during the year. At the other end of the scale, the Holy See has the lowest number of deaths in the world, with just 13 deaths projected for 2026.

With a crude mortality rate of 24.73 deaths per 1,000 people per year, the Holy See has the highest rate in the world. Monaco, Saint Helena, the United States Virgin Islands, and Bulgaria complete the top five, with all five having rates above 15 deaths per 1,000 people.

The crude mortality rate refers to the number of deaths during a given period divided by the person-years lived by the population during that period. It is usually expressed as the number of deaths per 1,000 people per year.

As of 2026, six of the 10 countries with the highest crude death rates are located in Europe, while two are in North America and one each is in Oceania and Africa. The crude death rate is above 10 deaths per 1,000 people per year in 54 countries.

The countries with the lowest crude death rates in the world are the United Arab Emirates (0.96), Qatar (1.03), Kuwait (1.80), Oman (1.86), and Bahrain (2.23) deaths per 1,000 people per year. All seven countries with the lowest crude death rates are located in Asia. Among the 237 countries and territories projected by the UN, 25 have crude death rates below 5 deaths per 1,000 people per year.