death rate

noun

plural death rates
: the ratio between deaths and individuals in a specified population during a particular time period : the incidence of deaths in a given population during a defined time period (such as one year) that is typically expressed per 1000 or 100,000 individuals : mortality rate
an annual death rate of 15 deaths per 1000 people

Note: A crude death rate does not distinguish between specific causes of death or groups of individuals and measures the incidence of all deaths in a population during a given time period. More specific death rates are based on narrower categories of individuals or causes of death.

an infant death rate of 9 deaths per 1000 live births
Ebola is infamous for being highly contagious and causing death rates as high as 90 percent in some human outbreaks.Brendan Borrell

Examples of death rate in a Sentence

There was a decline in the country's death rate after its health care improved. Lung cancer death rates are up. The death rate from accidents is rising.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
While the Biden administration also earmarked some of the earliest U.S. vaccine doses for the strategic Indo-Pacific region, more donated U.S. vaccines in the first year went to the regions where death rates were highest (Latin America) or supplies were lowest (sub-Saharan Africa). Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 24 Mar. 2025 The number of people who died from an opioid overdose in 2022 was 10 times the number in 1999; however, opioid overdose death rates were relatively stable from 2021 to 2022. Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 20 Mar. 2025 State of play: Before the 2000s, high birth rates coupled with lower death rates were Virginia's main population driver. Sabrina Moreno, Axios, 19 Mar. 2025 Americans without a college degree now live 8.5 years fewer on average than those with degrees and death rates from drug and alcohol abuse in the United States today are similar to those of post-Soviet Russia. David Faris, Newsweek, 17 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for death rate

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of death rate was in 1849

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Cite this Entry

“Death rate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/death%20rate. Accessed 6 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

death rate

noun
: the proportion of deaths in a population that is often expressed as the number of individuals that die in a year per thousand individuals in the population at the beginning of the year

Medical Definition

death rate

noun
: the ratio between deaths and individuals in a specified population and time period : the incidence of deaths in a given population during a defined time period (as one year) that is typically expressed per 1000 or 100,000 individuals : mortality rate
an annual death rate of 715 deaths per 100,000 individuals

Note: A crude death rate does not distinguish between specific causes of death or groups of individuals and measures the incidence of all deaths in a population during a given time period. More specific death rates are based on narrower categories of individuals or causes of death.

an infant death rate of 9 deaths per 1000 live births
The pravastatin group had a 24% lower death rate than the placebo group.Harvard Health Letter
Ebola is infamous for being highly contagious and causing death rates as high as 90 percent in some human outbreaks.Brendan Borrell, Scientific American
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