Mapping the world’s mortality

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The mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a specific population, scaled to that population’s size, per unit of time. Benjamin Hennig (www.viewsoftheworld.net) visualized world mortality using the cartogram technique.

Cardiovascular disease claims three out of 10 people as the world’s leading cause of death. In wealthy countries, seven people in 10 die ages 70 or over, mainly through chronic diseases. In low-income countries, death’s predominant cause is from infection disease, where about four in 10 deaths are children under 15 years old.

Causes of death differ significantly between developed and less developed nations.

Top 6 causes of death in low-income countries: Lower respiratory infection, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diarrhea, HIV/AIDS, preterm birth complication.

Top 6 causes of death in high-income countries: ischaemic heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, self-harm, Alzheimer’s disease, Cirrhosis.

 Quick Facts:
– In 2015, approximately 8.5 percent of the world’s population was estimated to be aged 65 and above.
– The United Nations reported that 56.6 million deaths occurred in 2015
– After relatively high child mortality (below the age of four, contributing to three percent of the deaths worldwide), the numbers of people who have died in 2015 starts relatively low at low ages and then continuously grows, with the largest share of people (29 percent) having died at the age of 80 and above. Approximately half of the people who died lived beyond the age of 70 which shows the improvements that were made in achieving longer lives.