TRACKER

Top 50: Cumulative cases per capita by income

Updated daily
Cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases per 1,000 people since start of the pandemic

EXPLAINER

This chart takes a snapshot of the Top 50 countries which currently have the highest cumulative COVID-19 case rate since the start of the pandemic. It groups the countries by World Bank income group and ranks them within each group by the case rate. 

The case rate expresses COVID-19 cases relative to the size of the population. By relating COVID-19 cases to population size, we get a measure of the prevalence of confirmed infections within the community tested. In contrast to the absolute case toll, the case rate provides an indication of the performance of country or group of countries in terms of protecting its population against infection.

Finally, it should be noted that limitations to testing will mean that the number of confirmed cases is lower than the true number of infections.