![]() | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(September 2014) |
Death rates in the 20th century is the ratio of deaths compared to the population around the world throughout the 20th century. When giving these ratios, they are most commonly expressed by number of deaths per 1,000 people per year. Many factors contribute to death rates such as cause of death, increasing the death rate, an ageing population, which could increase and decrease the death rates by birth rates, and improvements in public health, decreasing the death rate.
According to the CIA World Factbook, as of July 2012 [update] , the global crude death rate is 7.99 deaths/1,000 population. [1] The crude death rate represents the total number of deaths per year per thousand people. Comparatively, the crude death rate in the year 1900 was 17.2 deaths/1,000 population and 9.6 deaths/1,000 population in 1950 in the United States. [2]
The World Fact Book [3]
Rank | Country | Deaths/1,000 Population |
---|---|---|
1 | South Africa | 17.23 |
2 | Ukraine | 15.76 |
3 | Lesotho | 15.18 |
4 | Chad | 15.16 |
5 | Guinea-Bissau | 15.01 |
6 | Central African Republic | 14.71 |
7 | Afghanistan | 14.59 |
8 | Somalia | 14.55 |
9 | Bulgaria | 14.32 |
10 | Swaziland | 14.21 |
11 | Russia | 14.10 |
12 | Belarus | 13.90 |
13 | Mali | 13.90 |
14 | Serbia | 13.81 |
15 | Estonia | 13.60 |
16 | Latvia | 13.60 |
17 | Nigeria | 13.48 |
18 | Zambia | 13.40 |
19 | Niger | 13.40 |
20 | Namibia | 13.09 |
Throughout the 20th century in the developed world, the leading causes of death transitioned from infectious diseases such as influenza, to degenerative diseases such as cancer or diabetes. [4] In 1900, the leading cause of death in the United States was influenza with 202.2 deaths per 100,000 people followed by tuberculosis with 194.4, which is a curable illness today. In the middle of 20th century America, the leading cause of death was heart disease with 355.5 deaths per 100,000 followed by cancer at 139.8 deaths per 100,000. Although death rates dropped significantly in the latter part of the 20th century, the leading killers are still constant. The United States saw 192.9 people per 100,000 die from heart disease in 2010 followed by cancer with 185.9 people per 100,000.
An estimated 70 to 120 million people died from famine in the 20th century, of whom over half died in China. Malnutrition and hunger was also a leading cause of the global infant mortality and child mortality.
The world population in the 20th century experienced a large amount of death due to two major world wars. World War II was responsible for the most war related deaths in the 1900s with a death toll between 40,000,000 and 85,000,000 deaths. Other predominate wars in the 1900s include World War I with up to 22,000,000 deaths, the Russian Civil War with up to 9,000,000 deaths, the Afghan Civil War with up to 2,000,000 deaths, and the Mexican Revolution with up to 2,000,000 deaths. Several other major wars took place in the 20th century, such as the Iran–Iraq War, the Soviet–Afghan War, the second Sudanese Civil War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
It is estimated that traffic collisions caused the death of around 60 million people during the 20th century. [5]
A natural population increase occurs when birth rates are higher than death rates. Recently and most notably, the years immediately after World War II saw an explosion in fertility rates called the Baby Boom because the returning soldiers and displaced people started new families. Death rates were significantly lower during the baby boom and thus populations increased substantially. Today these baby boomers are approaching old age and driving up the average age of the overall population. The World Bank predicts a dramatic decrease in population size from the increase in death rates over the next decade. [6]
Fertility rates and consequently live birth rates declined over the century, while age-adjusted death rates fell more dramatically. Children in 1999 were 10 times less likely to die than children in 1900.
For adults 24–65, death rates have been halved. The death rate for Americans aged 65 to 74 fell from nearly 7% per year to fewer than 2% per year.
During the 20th century, an enormous improvement in public health led to an overall decrease in death rates. Infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates have dramatically decreased. In the early 1900s, 6–9 women died in pregnancy-related complications for every 1,000 births, while 100 infants died before they were 1 year old. In 1999, at the end of the century, the infant mortality rate in the United States declined more than 90% to 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. Similarly, maternal mortality rates declined almost 99% to less than 0.1 reported deaths per 1,000 live births.
There are a variety of causes for this steep decline in death rates in the 20th century:
Despite these tremendous decreases in infant mortality and maternal mortality, the 20th century experienced significant disparities between minority death rates compared to death rates for white mothers. In the 1900s, black women were twice as likely to die while giving birth compared to white women. Towards the end of the 20th century, black women are three times as likely to die while giving birth. This disparity is often cited as a lack in stronger Health care in the United States. [7]
Demographic features of the population of Cambodia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births. Similarly, the child mortality rate, also known as the under-five mortality rate, compares the death rate of children up to the age of five.
According to data from the 1989 Soviet census, the population of the USSR was made up of 70% East Slavs, 17% Turkic peoples, with no other single ethnic group making up more than 2%. Alongside the atheist majority of 60%, there were sizable minorities of Russian Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 1,000 would mean 9.5 deaths per year in that entire population, or 0.95% out of the total. It is distinct from "morbidity", which is either the prevalence or incidence of a disease, and also from the incidence rate.
Health in Cuba refers to the overall health of the population of Cuba. Like the rest of the Cuban economy, Cuban medical care suffered following the end of Soviet subsidies in 1991; the stepping up of the US embargo against Cuba at this time also had an effect.
Malaysia is classified by The World Bank as upper middle income country and is attempting to achieve high-income status by 2020 and to move further up the value-added production chain by attracting investments in high technology, knowledge-based industries and services. Malaysia's HDI value for 2015 was recorded at 0.789 and HDI rank no 59 out of 188 countries and territories on the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index. In 2016, the population of Malaysia is 31 million; Total expenditure on health per capita is 1040; Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2014) was 4.2 Gross national income (GNI) per capita was recorded at 24,620
The Tajikistan health system is influenced by the former Soviet legacy. It is ranked as the poorest country within the WHO European region, including the lowest total health expenditure per capita. Tajikistan is ranked 129th as Human Development Index of 188 countries, with an Index of 0.627 in 2016. In 2016, the SDG Index value was 56. In Tajikistan health indicators such as infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest of the former Soviet republics. In the post-Soviet era, life expectancy has decreased because of poor nutrition, polluted water supplies, and increased incidence of cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, and typhoid. Because the health care system has deteriorated badly and receives insufficient funding and because sanitation and water supply systems are in declining condition, Tajikistan has a high risk of epidemic disease.
Niger is a landlocked country located in West Africa and has Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Algeria as its neighboring countries. Niger was French territory that got its independence in 1960 and its official language is French. Niger has an area of 1.267 million square kilometres, nevertheless, 80% of its land area spreads through the Sahara Desert.
The current population of Myanmar is 54.05 million. It was 27.27 million in 1970. The general state of healthcare in Myanmar is poor. The military government of 1962-2011 spent anywhere from 0.5% to 3% of the country's GDP on healthcare. Healthcare in Myanmar is consistently ranked among the lowest in the world. In 2015, in congruence with a new democratic government, a series of healthcare reforms were enacted. In 2017, the reformed government spent 5.2% of GDP on healthcare expenditures. Health indicators have begun to improve as spending continues to increase. Patients continue to pay the majority of healthcare costs out of pocket. Although, out of pocket costs were reduced from 85% to 62% from 2014 to 2015. They continue to drop annually. The global average of healthcare costs paid out of pocket is 32%. Both public and private hospitals are understaffed due to a national shortage of doctors and nurses. Public hospitals lack many of the basic facilities and equipment. WHO consistently ranks Myanmar among the worst nations in healthcare.
According to the World Bank income level classification, Portugal is considered to be a high income country. Its population was of 10,283,822 people, by 1 July 2019. WHO estimates that 21.7% of the population is 65 or more years of age (2018), a proportion that is higher than the estimates for the WHO European Region.
Botswana's healthcare system has been steadily improving and expanding its infrastructure to become more accessible. The country's position as an upper middle-income country has allowed them to make strides in universal healthcare access for much of Botswana's population. The majority of the Botswana's 2.3 million inhabitants now live within five kilometres of a healthcare facility. As a result, the infant mortality and maternal mortality rates have been on a steady decline. The country's improving healthcare infrastructure has also been reflected in an increase of the average life expectancy from birth, with nearly all births occurring in healthcare facilities.
Health in Chad is suffering due to the country's weak healthcare system. Access to medical services is very limited and the health system struggles with shortage of medical staff, medicines and equipment. In 2018, the UNHCR reported that Chad currently has 615,681 people of concern, including 446,091 refugees and asylum seekers. There is a physician density of 0.04 per 1,000 population and nurse and midwife density of 0.31 per 1,000 population. The life expectancy at birth for people born in Chad, is 53 years for men and 55 years for women (2016). In 2019 Chad ranked as 187 out of 189 countries on the human development index, which places the country as a low human development country.
The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Tanzania was 790. This is compared with 449 in 2008 and 610.2 in 1990. The UN Child Mortality Report 2011 reports a decrease in under-five mortality from 155 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 76 per 1,000 live births in 2010, and in neonatal mortality from 40 per 1,000 live births to 26 per 1,000 live births. The aim of the report The State of the World's Midwifery is to highlight ways in which the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, particularly Goal 4 – Reduce child
Lesotho's Human development index value for 2018 was 0.518—which put the country in the low human development category—positioning it at 164 out of 189 countries and territories. Health care services in Lesotho are delivered primarily by the government and the Christian Health Association of Lesotho. Access to health services is difficult for many people, especially in rural areas. The country's health system is challenged by the relentless increase of the burden of disease brought about by AIDS, and a lack of expertise and human resources. Serious emergencies are often referred to neighbouring South Africa. The largest contribution to mortality in Lesotho are communicable diseases, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions.
The quality of health in Rwanda has historically been very low, both before and immediately after the 1994 genocide. In 1998, more than one in five children died before their fifth birthday, often from malaria. But in recent years Rwanda has seen improvement on a number of key health indicators. Between 2005 and 2013, life expectancy increased from 55.2 to 64.0, under-5 mortality decreased from 106.4 to 52.0 per 1,000 live births, and incidence of tuberculosis has dropped from 101 to 69 per 100,000 people. The country's progress in healthcare has been cited by the international media and charities. The Atlantic devoted an article to "Rwanda's Historic Health Recovery". Partners In Health described the health gains "among the most dramatic the world has seen in the last 50 years".
Even though Panama has one of the fastest growing economies in the western hemisphere, an estimated 500,000 people are in extreme poverty. Panama has major socioeconomic and health inequalities between the country’s urban and rural populations. The indigenous population lives in more disadvantaged conditions and experiences greater vulnerability in health. In general, the population living in more marginalized areas has less service coverage and less access to health care.
Serbia ranked 65th in the world in life expectancy in 2018 with 73.3 years for men and 78.5 years for women. As of 2018, it had a low infant mortality rate. As of 2017, it had 2.96 practicing physicians per 1,000 people.
As of 2019 Lithuanian life expectancy at birth was 76.0 and the infant mortality rate was 2.99 per 1,000 births. This is below the EU and OECD average.
Health in Norway, with its early history of poverty and infectious diseases along with famines and epidemics, was poor for most of the population at least into the 1800s. The country eventually changed from a peasant society to an industrial one and established a public health system in 1860. Due to the high life expectancy at birth, the low under five mortality rate and the fertility rate in Norway, it is fair to say that the overall health status in the country is generally good.
Life expectancy in Albania was estimated at 77.59 years, in 2014, ranking 51st in the world, and outperforming a number of European Union countries, such as Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. In 2016 it was 74 for men and 79 for women. The most common causes of death are circulatory diseases followed by cancerous illnesses. Demographic and Health Surveys completed a survey in April 2009, detailing various health statistics in Albania, including male circumcision, abortion and more.
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