Glossary:Death

From Statistics Explained

A death, according to the United Nations definition, is the permanent disappearance of all vital functions without possibility of resuscitation at any time after a live birth has taken place; this definition therefore excludes foetal deaths (stillbirths).

Mortality is the number of deaths for a given area during a given period. Infant mortality is the mortality of live-born children aged less than one year.

Mortality rate or death rate is the mortality expressed as a proportion of the population.

Crude mortality rate or crude death rate is defined as the ratio of the number of deaths during the year to the average population in that year; the value is expressed per 1000 inhabitants.

Infant mortality rate is defined as the ratio of the number of deaths of children under one year of age to the number of live births in the reference year; the value is expressed per 1000 live births.

Further Eurostat information

• Mortality (ESMS)
• Methodology for the calculation of Eurostat’s demographic indicators (Publication)

Related indicators

• Birth
• Cause of death