Global Mortality in 2015
A snapshot of death rates, leading causes, and country rankings for 2015.
| # | Country | Death Rate | #1 Cause | Region |
|---|
2015 was a pivotal year for global health governance: the MDG era ended and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted, including SDG 3 to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. The MDG period had achieved remarkable progress — under-five mortality fell 53%, maternal mortality declined 44%, and HIV, malaria, and TB deaths fell substantially. However, many targets were missed, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2015, data from 221 countries reveals the leading causes of death by share: cardiovascular diseases (30.0%), cancers (neoplasms) (16.5%), lower respiratory infections (5.4%), digestive diseases (4.3%), chronic respiratory diseases (4.2%). These averages reflect the cross-country mean share of total deaths and highlight the dominant mortality patterns of the era.
Compared to 2010, the most significant shifts in the global mortality profile by 2015 include: cancers (neoplasms) increased by 0.6 percentage points (from 15.8% to 16.5%); enteric infections decreased by 0.5 percentage points (from 2.8% to 2.3%); diarrheal diseases decreased by 0.4 percentage points (from 2.5% to 2.1%); neonatal disorders decreased by 0.4 percentage points (from 4.0% to 3.7%). These changes reflect evolving risk factor exposures, demographic transitions, medical advances, and public health interventions across the world.
Global mortality statistics are compiled from multiple sources. High-income countries typically rely on national vital registration systems with medical certification of cause of death, while many low- and middle-income countries supplement incomplete civil registration with verbal autopsy surveys and hospital records. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) integrates these inputs using statistical modeling to produce comparable estimates across countries and years. The 'share of deaths' metric shown in the charts represents the proportion of all deaths in a given country-year attributed to each cause category, summing to approximately 100% across all causes. When comparing across years, small shifts of one to two percentage points may reflect updates in data sources, changes in diagnostic coding (such as ICD revision transitions), or improvements in modeling methodology rather than true epidemiological changes. Larger shifts — particularly those sustained over multiple consecutive years — are more likely to represent genuine trends in population health.