COVID-19 fell to 14th among the world’s causes of death in 2023, according to revised estimates released by the World Health Organization on Friday, 2 October. It was the first time the virus had fallen outside the global top 10 since the pandemic began in 2020.
The virus directly killed an estimated 0.9 million people in 2023. In 2021, it was the world’s leading cause of death, with 9.4 million direct deaths in the revised WHO figures. Earlier WHO estimates had placed COVID-19 second that year, and deaths from the virus have fallen 85% since the 2021 peak.
COVID-19 caused 5.3 million deaths in 2020. Its direct toll over the first two years of the pandemic reached 14.7 million deaths.
WHO declared an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency in May 2023. The virus nonetheless remained among the 10 leading causes of death for one group, where it ranked 10th.
Global life expectancy at birth had recovered to 73.3 years by 2023, close to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019. Between 2019 and 2021, it had fallen by 1.8 years to 71.4 years, returning to its 2012 level.
Healthy life expectancy rose to 62.8 years by 2023, though it remained 0.4 years below its 2019 level.
Noncommunicable diseases accounted for 74% of deaths worldwide in 2023. Cardiovascular diseases remained the leading source of death and disease burden worldwide, while ischaemic heart disease alone caused approximately 9.5 million deaths.
Austria recorded 1212 reported COVID-19 deaths in 2024. Its all-cause mortality rates that year were equal to or lower than in 2019 across age strata at risk from COVID-19, defined as people aged 60 years and over.
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