COVID-19 in East Asia & Pacific
How COVID-19 affects 37 countries in East Asia & Pacific.
| # | Country | Share (%) |
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Across the 33 countries in East Asia & Pacific tracked in this dataset, covid-19 accounts for an average of 1.7% of total deaths. The regional average of 1.7% is notably higher than the global average of 1.2%, indicating that East Asia & Pacific carries a disproportionate burden of covid-19 mortality relative to the world. In East Asia & Pacific, covid-19 accounts for a notably elevated share of deaths, influenced by dietary patterns, ageing populations in high-income countries, and uneven healthcare access across the region's diverse economies.
East Asia and the Pacific region spans high-income economies with advanced health systems alongside lower-income nations still building primary care infrastructure, creating wide variation in health outcomes. Within East Asia & Pacific, significant variation exists. Guam records the highest share at 7.4% of total deaths, while Korea, Rep. has the lowest at 0.07%. This 7.3 percentage-point spread reflects differences in exposure, health system capacity, demographic structure, and risk factor prevalence across the region. Country-level pages provide detailed mortality breakdowns, time trends, and comparisons for each nation.
COVID-19 vaccines, developed with unprecedented speed, proved highly effective at preventing severe disease and death. mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna), viral vector vaccines (AstraZeneca, J&J), and inactivated vaccines (Sinovac, Sinopharm) formed the global immunisation portfolio. Non-pharmaceutical interventions — masking, physical distancing, ventilation improvement, and testing/isolation — reduced transmission. Antiviral treatments (Paxlovid, remdesivir) and dexamethasone reduced mortality in hospitalised patients. Pandemic preparedness investments in surveillance, genomic sequencing, and equitable vaccine access are essential for future pandemic resilience.
The mortality estimates presented on this page are derived from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, produced by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The GBD synthesizes data from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, cancer registries, and surveillance networks across more than 200 countries and territories. Death rates are expressed per 100,000 population and are age-standardized, which adjusts for differences in age structure between populations so that comparisons across countries and over time reflect genuine differences in mortality risk rather than demographic composition.
The dataset typically covers the period from 1990 to 2023, although availability varies by country and cause. When interpreting the figures for covid-19 in East Asia & Pacific, note that higher age-standardized rates indicate a greater mortality burden independent of whether a country's population is older or younger. Trends over time reveal whether public health interventions, economic development, and health system improvements have reduced or increased the toll of this condition in the region.
The cause-of-death categories used on this page follow the Global Burden of Disease cause hierarchy, a standardized classification that groups individual ICD-coded causes into clinically meaningful categories. The "share of deaths" metric shows what percentage of all deaths in a given country or region are attributed to covid-19. A rising share does not necessarily mean more people are dying from this cause — it may reflect success in reducing competing causes of death. Always examine both absolute rates and shares for a complete picture of mortality patterns in East Asia & Pacific.