Adult mortality rates by country and sex (Global), 1970-2010

Gap widens between countries in adult mortality

Visualize changes in adult-mortality in 187 countries between 1970 and 2010. You can see how health disparities among countries are widening around the world for both men and women. The gap between countries has grown so large that now the country with the highest adult mortalty – Zambia – has a female adult mortality rate that is 16 times the adult mortality of the country with the lowest rate, Cyprus. Data are presented as bubbles, columns, or lines.

For more ideas how to explore go to the How to Visualize tab.

Loading...

Data Visualization

How to ExploreData StoriesTerms Defined

Hit play and watch changes over time.
Next to the x-axis and y-axis labels, you can click the arrow to choose different indicators to display in the graph.
Select specific countries to watch; you can turn 'Trails' on or off to see the complete pattern of a country over time.
Click and drag a rectangle within the graph plot to zoom in on that area; this may be especially helpful when trying to view specific country trends.
Change the graph from a bubble view to a line chart using the tab in the top right corner of the visualization.

Some additional recommended comparisons:

Female 45q15 vs Male 45q15
45q15 vs Under 5 Mortality Rate (by sex)
45q15 vs Education (by sex)
45q15 vs Cigarettes (by sex)
45q15 vs HIV (by sex)

See the gap between countries grow. Choose the bar chart on the top right. Select “Adult Mortality (45q15), Female” on the left and “Order: Adult Mortality (45q15), Female” on the bottom.” In the “Select” box, check Cyprus and Zambia. Click the play button at the bottom left and you will see Zambia hovering near the very highest mortality rates, between a probability of between 500 and 600 per 1,000 that a 15-year-old female will die before the age of 60. At the same time, Cyprus drops below 100 and keeps dropping until it reaches the world’s lowest rate, 38 per 1,000.
Watch as the United States falls significantly behind other countries in terms of adult mortality risk, even countries with fewer resources. Choose the bubble chart on the top right. Choose “GDP (USD)” on the left and “Adult Mortality (45q15), Male” on the bottom. In the “Select” box, check Chile, Israel, Jordan and United States. Hit play. You will see how countries with per capita GDP’s that are less than half the size of those in the US overtake the US in lowering adult mortality. As of 2010, the US had a higher mortality risk than all of Western Europe, as well as lower-income countries such as Chile, Tunisia, Jordan, Israel, Costa Rica, and Albania.
Follow the reversal in adult mortality trend as the Soviet Union starts to falter and then collapse. Choose the bar chart on the top right. Select “Adult Mortality (45q15), Female” on the left and “Order: Adult Mortality (45q15), Female” on the bottom.” In the “Select” box, check some of the countries that were part of the Soviet Union, including Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russian Federation. As a point of comparison, click Turkey, too. Hit the play button at the bottom left. All of the Soviet countries move backward in adult mortality in relation to their peers, and Turkey, which had a higher mortality than all of them in 1970, by 2010 has the lowest mortality.

Adult Mortality (45q15): Probability of death between the ages of 15 years and 60 years (number of deaths per 1,000)

Alcohol: Pure alcohol (100% proof) consumption in liters per capita

Animal Fat: Animal fat consumption in grams per capita

Cigarettes: Individual cigarette consumption per capita

Education: Age standardized mean years of education for those aged 25+

GDP: Gross domestic product per capita in 2005 US dollars

HIV (percent): HIV seroprevalence

Under 5 Mortality: Probability of death between the ages of 0 and 5 years (number of deaths per 1,000)

Adult mortality rates by country and sex (Global), 1970-2010

Loading...

Data Visualization

Related Visualizations & other Tools

Related Publications & Presentations

Related News & Events

Related Content