TRACKER
- Mortality by World Bank region
Daily deaths per capita by World Bank region
EXPLAINER
This chart shows the evolution over time of the daily COVID-19 mortality rate across World Bank regions. To remove intra-week volatility in the reported data, the indicator is transformed into a 7-day trailing average (the average value of the latest observation and the preceding 6 days).
The mortality rate expresses COVID-19 fatalities relative to the size of the population. By relating COVID-19 mortality to population size, we get a measure of the burden of disease. In contrast to the absolute mortality toll, the mortality rate provides an indication of the performance of country or group of countries in terms of protecting its population against death with COVID as the underlying cause.
It should be noted that the different regional groups shown here are of very different population size dimensions. The global population as per the 2021 medium-variant projection of World Population Prospects is 7,866 million people, which is distributed as follows:
- East Asia & Pacific (EAP): 2,392 million
- Europe & Central Asia (ECA): 930 million
- Latin America & Caribbean (LAC): 655 million
- Middle East & North Africa (MNA): 472 million
- North America (NAM): 374 million
- South Asia (SAR): 1,877 million
-
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): 1,166 million
In light of these differences in population size, absolute mortality numbers will be quite different given the differences in rates.
Related trackers
TRACKER
- Mortality by World Bank region
Daily deaths by World Bank region
EXPLAINER
This chart shows the evolution over time of the daily COVID-19 mortality toll in absolute numbers across World Bank regions. To remove intra-week volatility in the reported data, the indicator is transformed into a 7-day trailing average (the average value of the latest observation and the preceding 6 days).
The absolute expression of the mortality toll is useful to highlight the the contribution of countries or groups of countries to the global total. Mortality rates, which express the absolute toll relative to population size, provide an indication of performance controlling for population size. The absolute numbers however take the view that a life lost is a life lost, no matter where the person happened to live. It offers a valuable perspective on the absolute scale of the pandemic’s death toll.
It should be noted that the different regional groups shown here are of very different population size dimensions. The global population as per the 2021 medium-variant projection of World Population Prospects is 7,866 million people, which is distributed as follows:
- East Asia & Pacific (EAP): 2,392 million
- Europe & Central Asia (ECA): 930 million
- Latin America & Caribbean (LAC): 655 million
- Middle East & North Africa (MNA): 472 million
- North America (NAM): 374 million
- South Asia (SAR): 1,877 million
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): 1,166 million
In light of these differences in population size, we expect large differences in absolute mortality numbers even if mortality rates were constant across groups.
Related trackers
TRACKER
- Mortality by World Bank region
Share in daily deaths by World Bank region
EXPLAINER
This chart shows the evolution over time of the distribution of daily COVID-19 mortality across World Bank regions. It calculates for each region the share in daily COVID-19 mortality globally. To remove intra-week volatility in the reported data, the share is transformed into a 7-day trailing average by dividing the 7-day trailing averages of the numerator and denominator (7-day trailing average refers to the average value of the latest observation and the preceding 6 days).
The indicator reflects an absolute concept of mortality in that it expresses how the absolute death toll in a particular region contributes to the global death tally. This differs fundamentally from the concept of the mortality rate, which expresses the absolute toll relative to population size and thus provides an indication of performance controlling for population size. The absolute numbers underpinning the mortality distribution shown here take the view that a life lost is a life lost, no matter where the person happened to live. It offers a valuable perspective on the absolute scale of the pandemic’s death toll.
It should be noted that the different regional groups shown here are of very different population size dimensions. The global population as per the 2021 medium-variant projection of World Population Prospects is 7,866 million people, which is distributed as follows:
- East Asia & Pacific (EAP): 2,392 million
- Europe & Central Asia (ECA): 930 million
- Latin America & Caribbean (LAC): 655 million
- Middle East & North Africa (MNA): 472 million
- North America (NAM): 374 million
- South Asia (SAR): 1,877 million
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): 1,166 million
In light of these differences in population size, we expect large differences in the distribution of absolute mortality even if mortality rates were constant across groups.
Related trackers
TRACKER
- Mortality by World Bank region
Top 50: Daily deaths per capita by World Bank region
EXPLAINER
This chart takes a snapshot of the Top 50 countries which currently have the highest daily COVID-19 mortality rate. It groups the countries by World Bank region and ranks them within each region by the mortality rate.
The mortality rate expresses COVID-19 fatalities relative to the size of the population. To remove intra-week volatility in the reported data, the indicator is transformed into a 7-day trailing average (the average value of the latest observation and the preceding 6 days).
By relating COVID-19 mortality to population size, we get a measure of the burden of disease. In contrast to the absolute mortality toll, the mortality rate provides an indication of the performance of country or group of countries in terms of protecting its population against death with COVID as the underlying cause.
Related trackers
TRACKER
- Mortality by World Bank region
Top 50: Daily deaths by World Bank region
EXPLAINER
This chart takes a snapshot of the Top 50 countries which currently have the highest daily COVID-19 mortality in absolute numbers. It groups the countries by World Bank region and ranks them within each region by the daily absolute mortality toll.
The absolute expression of the mortality toll is useful to highlight the the contribution of countries or groups of countries to the global total. Mortality rates, which express the absolute toll relative to population size, provide an indication of performance controlling for population size. The absolute numbers however take the view that a life lost is a life lost, no matter where the person happened to live. It offers a valuable perspective on the absolute scale of the pandemic’s death toll.
To remove intra-week volatility in the reported data, the indicator is transformed into a 7-day trailing average (the average value of the latest observation and the preceding 6 days).