Death rates in the 20th century
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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
Highest crude death rates worldwide
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 |
Cause of death
Throughout the 20th century in the developed world, the leading causes of death transitioned from infectious diseases such as
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
It is estimated that traffic collisions caused the death of around 60 million people during the 20th century.[5]
Ageing population
A natural population increase occurs when birth rates are higher than death rates. Recently and most notably, the years immediately after
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.
Improvements in public health
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:
- Environmental interventions
- Improvement in nutrition
- Advances in clinical medicine (sulfonamide in 1937, penicillin in the 1940s)
- Improved access to health care
- Improvements in surveillance and monitoring disease
- Increases in education levels
- Improvement in standards of living.
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
See also
- List of countries by death rate
- List of countries by life expectancy
- Birth rate
- Mortality rate
References
- ^ "World Death Rate". CIA World Factbook. 7 March 2023.
- ^ "U.S. Annual Death Rates per 1,00U.S. Annual Death Rates per 1,000 Population, 1900-2005". vol. 54, no. 20, Aug. 21, 2007. Department of Health and Human Services.
- ^ "World Death Rate" (PDF).
- ^ "Mortality and Morbidity: Mortality in the 20th century". Australian Social Trends. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
- ^ "Visualizing Major Causes of Death in the 20th Century". Visual News. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ^ "Beyond Economic Growth" (PDF). World Population Growth. Worldbank.
- ^ Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. "Achievements in Public Health, 1900–1999: Healthier Mothers and Babies". Retrieved 13 November 2012.
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