• Nearly 150,000 people die each day around the world, according to 2017 data.
  • Cardiovascular diseases are the biggest killer globally.
  • This is how COVID-19 compares to other diseases for number of deaths.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the media continues to rattle off statistics at full force.

However, without a frame of reference, numbers such as the death toll can be difficult to interpret. Mortalities attributed to the virus, for example, are often measured in the thousands of people per day globally—but is this number a little or a lot, relative to typical causes of death?

This graphic uses data from Our World in Data to provide context with the total number of worldwide daily deaths. It also outlines how many people who die each day from specific causes.

 

Daušsföll um allan heim eftir orsökum

Nęrri 150.000 manns deyja į dag um heim allan, byggt į nżjustu alhliša rannsóknum sem birtar voru įriš 2017. Hvaša sjśkdómar eru mannskęšastir og hversu mörg lķf taka žeir į dag?

Svona deyja margir aš jafnaši į hverjum degi, rašaš eftir orsökum:

Worldwide deaths by cause

Nearly 150,000 people die per day worldwide, based on the latest comprehensive research published in 2017. Which diseases are the most deadly, and how many lives do they take per day?

Here’s how many people die each day on average, sorted by cause:

 

Hjarta- og ęšasjśkdómar, eša hjarta- og ęšasjśkdómar, eru helsta dįnarorsökin. Hins vegar endurspeglast įberandi žeirra ekki ķ skynjun okkar į dauša né ķ fjölmišlum.

Žó aš tala lįtinna vegna HIV/alnęmis hafi nįš hįmarki įriš 2004, hefur žaš enn įhrif į marga ķ dag. Sjśkdómurinn veldur aš mešaltali yfir 2.600 daglegum daušsföllum.

Hryšjuverk og nįttśruhamfarir valda tiltölulega fįum daušsföllum. Sem sagt, žessar tölur geta veriš mismunandi frį degi til dags - og įr frį įri - eftir alvarleika hvers einstaks tilviks.

Samtals dagleg daušsföll eftir landi

Į landsvķsu er žessi tölfręši enn mismunandi. Hér aš nešan eru heildardaušsföll af öllum orsökum valinna landa, byggt į gögnum 2017.

Cardiovascular diseases, or diseases of the heart and blood vessels, are the leading cause of death. However, their prominence is not reflected in our perceptions of death nor in the media.

While the death toll for HIV/AIDS peaked in 2004, it still affects many people today. The disease causes over 2,600 daily deaths on average.

Terrorism and natural disasters cause relatively very few deaths. That said, these numbers can vary from day to day—and year to year—depending on the severity of each individual instance.

Total daily deaths by country

On a national level, these statistics vary further. Below are the total deaths from all causes for selected countries, based on 2017 data.

Kķna og Indland sjį bęši meira en 25,000 daušsföll į dag vegna mikills fjölda ķbśa.

Hins vegar, meš 34,7 daglega daušsföll į hverja milljón manna į hverjum degi, er Rśssland meš hęstu daušsföllin ķ hlutfalli viš ķbśafjölda af hverju žessara landa.

Halda sjónarhorni

Žrįtt fyrir aš žessar tölur hjįlpi til viš aš veita samhengi um alžjóšlegt magn COVID-19 daušsfalla, žį bjóša žęr ekki upp į beinan samanburš.

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Stašreyndin er sś aš margir af fyrrgreindum dįnartķšni eru byggšir į miklu stęrri og stöšugri śrtaksstęrš gagna. Į hinn bóginn, sķšan WHO lżsti yfir COVID-19 faraldri 11. mars 2020, hafa dagleg stašfest daušsföll falliš į breitt bili į milli 272 og 10,520 į dag-og ekkert er aš segja um hvaš gęti gerst ķ framtķšinni.

 

China and India both see more than 25,000 total deaths per day, due to their large populations.

However, with 34.7 daily deaths per million people each day, Russia has the highest deaths proportional to population out of any of these countries.

Keeping Perspective

While these numbers help provide some context for the global scale of COVID-19 deaths, they do not offer a direct comparison.

Have you read?

The fact is that many of the aforementioned death rates are based on much larger and consistent sample sizes of data. On the flipside, since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, daily confirmed deaths have fallen in a wide range between 272 and 10,520 per day—and there is no telling what could happen in the future.

On top of this variance, data on confirmed COVID-19 deaths has other quirks. For example, testing rates for the virus may vary between jurisdictions, and there have also been disagreements between authorities on how deaths should even be tallied in the first place. This makes getting an accurate picture surprisingly complicated.

While it’s impossible to know the true death toll of COVID-19, it is clear that in some countries daily deaths have reached rates 50% or higher than the historical average for periods of time:

Time, and further analysis, will be required to determine a more accurate COVID-19 death count.