China vs India: Number of deaths
China
11.68 million deaths
in 2023
India
9.51 million deaths
in 2023
China rank
1st
India rank
2nd
Number of deaths over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 11.68 million deaths against 9.51 million deaths in India, a difference of 2.18 million deaths.
That makes China's figure about 1.2 times India's.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was China ahead.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, China averaged higher in 4 and India in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | India | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 12.55 million deaths | 8.17 million deaths | 4.38 million deaths | China |
| 1960s | 11.79 million deaths | 9.04 million deaths | 2.75 million deaths | China |
| 1970s | 8.51 million deaths | 9.45 million deaths | 939,715 deaths | India |
| 1980s | 7.60 million deaths | 9.40 million deaths | 1.80 million deaths | India |
| 1990s | 7.65 million deaths | 9.20 million deaths | 1.55 million deaths | India |
| 2000s | 8.20 million deaths | 9.04 million deaths | 837,319 deaths | India |
| 2010s | 9.48 million deaths | 8.99 million deaths | 492,032 deaths | China |
| 2020s | 10.96 million deaths | 10.52 million deaths | 440,378 deaths | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of deaths, China or India?
- China, at 11.68 million deaths against 9.51 million deaths in India as of 2023.
- What is the difference in number of deaths between China and India?
- 2.18 million deaths, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and India?
- 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
- How do China and India rank globally for number of deaths?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Number of deaths. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Number of deaths in a calendar year.