Note: (—) indicates that no trend data were available or not applicable.

Source: World Health Statistics 2026.

With fewer than 5 years to 2030, global health indicators continue to move in the right direction in many areas, with progress in universal health coverage, reductions in key infectious diseases, and improvements in access to safe water, sanitation, basic hygiene and clean cooking fuels and technologies. However, this progress is not enough, of the approximately half of the 52 health-related SDG indicators with a numeric SDG or other global targets, none is on track to meet the 2030 target at the global level. Both tobacco use and alcohol consumption have been declining steadily since 2010 and although the pace of reduction has not been sufficient to fully meet the global targets, current trends indicate that both indicators are expected to come close, highlighting meaningful progress while underscoring the need for sustained action on behavioral risk factors.

Source: Global excess deaths associated with COVID-19: modelled estimates

Excess mortality from all causes—defined as deaths above those expected based on historical trends—is a key measure for assessing the full mortality impact of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as it captures both deaths directly attributable to the virus and those resulting from broader societal and health system disruptions. From 2020 to2023, global excess deaths are estimated at 22.1 million, far surpassing the 7.0 million reported COVID-19 deaths. This indicates that roughly two additional deaths occurred for every reported COVID-19 death due to both underreporting and indirect impacts such as health care disruptions. Excess mortality peaked in 2021 at 10.4 million, driven by more lethal variants like Delta and severe health system strain, before declining to 3.3 million in 2023. The ratio of excess to reported COVID-19 deaths rose sharply over time, from nearly one additional death per reported death in 2020 to about nine by 2023, initially reflecting a high share of indirect deaths and later largely the result of extensive underreporting as testing declined. Compared with expected levels, global deaths were 6.2% higher in 2020 and reached a peak of 17.9% above expected mortality in 2021.

Source: Global health estimates 2023 (forthcoming)

Population health has improved globally over the past 25 years, with better prevention, diagnosis and treatment contributing to declining mortality and rising life expectancy. However, nearly a decade of progress was reversed during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, creating uneven and fragmented recovery. Female life expectancy fully rebounded by 2023, and many lower income regions have returned to or surpassed pre pandemic levels. However, overall life expectancy and HALE remain slightly below 2019 levels, with the Region of the Americas being the hardest hit and gaps remaining in the European Region and many higher income countries. In addition, overlapping shocks—including the pandemic, natural disasters and armed conflict—have strained health systems, reversed gains invulnerable settings and limited access to essential care.

Note: Data refer to 2023. Source: Global health estimates 2023 (forthcoming); WHO Mortality Database

Civil registration and vital statistics systems (CRVS) form the backbone of national health information by recording births and deaths, providing legal identity, and generating vital statistics that support evidence-based policy, routine health planning, and monitoring progress toward national and global goals. Strong CRVS systems also help countries detect and respond to health emergencies, reveal inequalities, and guide more effective and equitable resource allocation. Within these systems, medically certified and ICD‑coded death registration remains the gold standard for understanding mortality patterns.

In 2023, an estimated 61 million deaths occurred globally. Of these, only around 21 million deaths were reported to WHO with cause-of-death information, representing about one third of all estimated deaths. When restricting to deaths reported using detailed ICD coding (with 3 or 4 digits), the number declines further to about 15 million deaths. After accounting for deaths assigned to ill-defined or unspecified causes of death, only about 12 million deaths – about one fifth of all estimated number of global deaths – have meaningful cause-of-death information.