How Death Changes With Age
The causes of death transform dramatically as we move through life. Infectious diseases dominate in early childhood, injuries peak in young adulthood, and chronic diseases take over from middle age onward. Select a country to see how this pattern plays out.
How Causes of Death Change With Age
A visual journey through the five stages of mortality risk
This page visualises how the leading causes of death change across five broad age groups: Under 5, 5–14, 15–49, 50–69, and 70+. The data comes from the IHME Global Burden of Disease Study 2023, which provides age-stratified cause-of-death estimates for over 200 countries. The pattern is remarkably consistent worldwide: infectious diseases and neonatal conditions dominate in early childhood; injuries rise in adolescence and young adulthood; and non-communicable diseases become dominant from middle age onward.
The Five Stages of Mortality
From neonatal fragility to the diseases of ageing
Under 5: Neonatal conditions (prematurity, birth asphyxia, sepsis) and infectious diseases (lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria) dominate. This age group has seen the greatest mortality reductions in recent decades thanks to vaccination, oral rehydration therapy, and improved obstetric care. Ages 5–14: The safest period of human life. Infectious diseases remain important in low-income settings, but injuries (drowning, road traffic) begin to appear. Cancer (especially leukaemia) is rare but devastating.
Ages 15–49: The injury peak — road traffic injuries, self-harm, interpersonal violence, and drowning are leading causes, particularly for males. HIV/AIDS remains significant in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cardiovascular disease begins its rise. Ages 50–69: Non-communicable diseases dominate — cardiovascular disease and cancer together account for more than half of all deaths. Diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and liver disease also rise. Ages 70+: Cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and dementia/Alzheimer’s disease are the dominant killers. Lower respiratory infections re-emerge as a leading cause in the elderly due to immune senescence.
The timing and magnitude of these transitions vary considerably between high-income and low-income countries. In wealthy nations, the shift to NCDs begins earlier and is more complete; in poorer nations, infectious diseases remain significant across all age groups, and the dual burden of communicable and non-communicable disease creates complex public health challenges.
What is the safest age to be?
Ages 5–14 have the lowest mortality rates of any age group globally. Children who survive the high-risk first five years have passed most infectious disease threats but have not yet entered the injury-prone adolescent years or the chronic disease burden of adulthood.
Why do injuries peak in young adulthood?
The 15–49 age group has the highest injury mortality due to a combination of risk-taking behaviour, alcohol use, road traffic exposure, interpersonal violence, and self-harm. Males are disproportionately affected, with injury death rates roughly three times higher than females in this age range. Road traffic injuries alone are the leading cause of death for 15–29-year-olds globally.
Why do respiratory infections reappear in the elderly?
Immune senescence (the gradual decline of immune function with age) makes elderly people vulnerable to infections that younger adults fight off easily. Lower respiratory infections, particularly pneumonia and influenza, are a leading cause of death in people over 70, even in wealthy countries with excellent healthcare systems.
Do these age patterns differ between rich and poor countries?
Yes, significantly. In high-income countries, the shift from infectious to non-communicable causes is more complete and happens earlier. In low-income countries, infectious diseases remain a major cause of death across all age groups, and the under-5 mortality rate can be 20 times higher than in wealthy nations. Select different countries to see how the age patterns compare.
Which age group has improved the most over time?
The under-5 age group has seen the most dramatic improvement. Global under-5 mortality has declined by more than 50% since 1990, driven by vaccination, oral rehydration therapy, insecticide-treated bed nets, and improved obstetric care. This represents one of the greatest public health achievements of the modern era.