Share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death in Germany
Germany: Share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death was 3.6% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death in Germany, 1990–2020
Source: WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death in Germany stood at 3.6%.
That represents a change of down 10.2% on the previous year and up 30.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death in Germany peaked at 4.0% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 2.2%, in 1992.
Germany ranks 64th of 113 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death in Germany, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2.9% | — |
| 1991 | 2.4% | -17.2% |
| 1992 | 2.2% | -5.0% |
| 1993 | 2.3% | +0.2% |
| 1994 | 2.4% | +6.2% |
| 1995 | 2.5% | +4.0% |
| 1996 | 2.5% | +0.9% |
| 1997 | 2.6% | +3.7% |
| 1998 | 2.7% | +3.6% |
| 1999 | 2.6% | -3.3% |
| 2000 | 2.8% | +6.5% |
| 2001 | 2.6% | -4.9% |
| 2002 | 2.4% | -9.3% |
| 2003 | 2.5% | +4.3% |
| 2004 | 2.5% | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 2.4% | -3.7% |
| 2006 | 2.4% | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 2.6% | +8.1% |
| 2008 | 2.8% | +8.1% |
| 2009 | 2.8% | -2.0% |
| 2010 | 2.7% | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 2.6% | -3.9% |
| 2012 | 2.7% | +4.5% |
| 2013 | 2.8% | +2.1% |
| 2014 | 3.0% | +5.6% |
| 2015 | 3.0% | -0.2% |
| 2016 | 3.3% | +10.7% |
| 2017 | 3.1% | -3.8% |
| 2018 | 3.4% | +8.2% |
| 2019 | 4.0% | +16.8% |
| 2020 | 3.6% | -10.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.5% | 2.2% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.6% | 2.4% | 2.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.1% | 2.6% | 4.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.6% | 3.6% | 3.6% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Germany
More health data for Germany
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.13 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate -0.9955 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,164 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 368 deaths (2100)
- Total tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 8 (2000)
- Total tetanus - number of reported cases, per capita 0 units per person (2000)
- Diphtheria - number of reported cases, gaps filled 53 (2025)
- Diphtheria - number of reported cases, per capita 0 units per person (2025)
- Measles - number of reported cases, gaps filled 234 (2025)
- Measles - number of reported cases, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death in Germany?
- Share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death in Germany was 3.6% in 2020, according to WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death recorded in Germany?
- The highest recorded value was 4.0% in 2019.
- What is the lowest share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death recorded in Germany?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.2% in 1992.
- How does Germany rank for share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death?
- Germany ranks 64th out of 113 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death rising or falling in Germany?
- Over the last ten years it is up 30.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Germany data come from?
- The figures come from WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of deaths registered with an ill-defined cause of death. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of total reported deaths in both sexes in those aged all ages that are from ill-defined diseases.