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Global Burden of Disease (GBD)

The GBD study is the largest and most comprehensive effort to quantify health loss across places and over time, so health systems can be improved and disparities eliminated.

607 billion+ Highly standardized and comprehensive estimates of health outcome and health system measures.
459 Health outcomes and risk factors, providing a powerful basis for insights on global health trends and challenges.
204 Countries and territories, plus dozens of sub-national locations show trends at regional, national, and local levels.
11,000+ Individuals from over 160 countries and territories collaborate in vetting GBD data sources and estimates.

GBD 2021 capstones

Scientific Publication

Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2021, with forecasts to 2100

During the period from 1950 to 2021, global fertility rates more than halved, falling to just above replacement level.

Natalia Bhattacharjee, Austin Schumacher, Stein Emil Vollset, Amanda Smith, Christopher J.L. Murray, Austin Ahlstrom, Cat Antony, Aleksandr Aravkin, Catherine Bisignano, Elye Bliss, Michael Brauer, Dana Bryazka, Katrin Burkart, Jackie Cao, Julian Chalek, Kaleb Coberly, Haley Comfort, Bronte Dalton, Maegan Dirac, Joe Duprey, Laura Dwyer-Lindgren, Kara Estep, Samuel Farmer, Valery Feigin, John Fuller, Annie Haakenstad, Simon Hay, Nicholas Kassebaum, Molly Kassel, Julie Kim, Kasey Kinzel, Heidi Larson, Stephen Lim, Paulina Lindstedt, Kelsey Maass, Erin May, Anna Laura McKowen, Susan McLaughlin, Tomislav Mestrovic, Ali Mokdad, QuynhAnh Nguyen, Yaz Ozten, Spencer Pease, David Pigott, Cat Raggi, Hannah Robinson-Oden, Tilleye Runghien, Haaris Saqib, David Shaw, Georgia Smith, Reed Sorensen, Nicholas Verghese, Theo Vos, Denny Wang, Stefanie Watson, Marcia Weaver, Katherine Wells, Chun-Wei Yuan, Meixin Zhang
March 20, 2024
Scientific Publication

Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations worldwide has underscored the need for timely estimates in order to understand this unprecedented event within the context of long-term population health trends.

Austin Schumacher, Hmwe Hmwe Kyu, Christopher J.L. Murray, Stephen Lim, Cat Antony, Gulrez Azhar, Catherine Bisignano, Katrin Burkart, Kelly Cercy, Eunice Chung, Kaleb Coberly, Haley Comfort, Ewerton Cousin, Garland Culbreth, Matthew Cunningham, Nicole Weaver, Lee Deitesfeld, Maegan Dirac, Kara Estep, Abraham Flaxman, Luisa Sorio Flor, John Fuller, Emmanuela Gakidou, Simon Hay, Darwin Jones, Molly Kassel, Cathleen Keller, Kasey Kinzel, Kris Krohn, Rafael Lozano, Erin May, Anna Laura McKowen, Susan McLaughlin, Max Mehlman, Ali Mokdad, Jon Mosser, Vincent Mougin, Mohsen Naghavi, Olivia Nesbit, Amanda Novotney, Yaz Ozten, Spencer Pease, David Pigott, Bobby Reiner, Hannah Robinson-Oden, David Shaw, Erica Leigh Slepak, Reed Sorensen, Nicholas Verghese, Stein Emil Vollset, Avina Vongpradith, Theo Vos, Denny Wang, Stefanie Watson, Marcia Weaver, Katherine Wells, Shadrach Wilson, Eve Wool, Peng Zheng
March 11, 2024
Scientific Publication

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021

The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections.

Mohsen Naghavi, Liane Ong, Christopher J.L. Murray, Eve Wool, Cat Antony, Aleksandr Aravkin, Michael Arndt, Ann Basting, Rose Bender, Betyna Berice, Greg Bertolacci, Kayleigh Bhangdia, Jessica Bishai, Catherine Bisignano, Michael Brauer, Kelly Cercy, Catherine Chen, Eunice Chung, Kaleb Coberly, Rebecca Cogen, Haley Comfort, Ewerton Cousin, Garland Culbreth, Matthew Cunningham, Xiaochen Dai, Nicole Weaver, Louisa Degenhardt, Lee Deitesfeld, Maegan Dirac, Regina-Mae Dominguez, Laura Dwyer-Lindgren, Valery Feigin, Alize Ferrari, John Fuller, Emmanuela Gakidou, Natalie Galles, William Gardner, Sama Ghoba, Erin Hamilton, Chieh Han, Simon Hay, Jiawei He, Rebecca Hsu, Kevin Ikuta, Nicholas Kassebaum, Molly Kassel, Cathleen Keller, Kasey Kinzel, Jonathan Kocarnik, Kris Krohn, Hmwe Hmwe Kyu, Jorge Ledesma, Kate LeGrand, Stephen Lim, Megan Lindstrom, Rafael Lozano, Kelsey Maass, Anna Laura McKowen, Susan McLaughlin, Tomislav Mestrovic, Madeline Moberg, Ali Mokdad, Jon Mosser, Vincent Mougin, Amanda Novotney, Sam Ostroff, Yaz Ozten, Maja Pašović, Spencer Pease, David Pigott, Natalie Pritchett, Quinn Rafferty, Christian Razo, Bobby Reiner, Hannah Robinson-Oden, Gregory Roth, Tilleye Runghien, Damian Santomauro, Austin Schumacher, Sarah Sirota, Reed Sorensen, Sandra Spearman, Jeff Stanaway, Benjamin Stark, Caroline Stein, Caitlyn Steiner, Azalea Thomson, Anna Torre, Nicholas Verghese, Stein Emil Vollset, Avina Vongpradith, Theo Vos, Stefanie Watson, Joanna Whisnant, Caroline Wilkerson, Shadrach Wilson, Yvonne Xu, Faith Yuh
April 3, 2024

Interactive data visuals

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Interactive Data Visual

GBD Compare

Analyze updated data about the world’s health levels and trends from 1990 to 2021 from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.

Last updated
May 16, 2024
Interactive Data Visual

GBD Results

View and download estimates of the world’s health from 1990 to 2021.

Last updated
May 16, 2024
Interactive Data Visual

WHO Rehabilitation Need Estimator

Analyze estimates of the world’s need for rehabilitation services from 1990 to 2021.

Last updated
November 7, 2024
Interactive Data Visual

Health-related SDGs

Explore progress made toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1990–2023 and projections to 2030.

Last updated
October 29, 2024

Infographics and videos

Explore our library of infographics and videos to help you quickly share impactful stories to improve global health.

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Publications

Learn more about GBD findings through health policy reports and peer-reviewed publications.

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Scientific Publication

Global, regional, and national stillbirths at 20 weeks’ gestation or longer in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2021

Haley Comfort, Theresa McHugh, Nicholas Kassebaum, Rakhi Dandona, Christopher J.L. Murray, Mohsen Naghavi, Simon Hay, Austin Schumacher, Ashley Harris, Erin May, Katherine Paulson, William Gardner, John Fuller, Meghan Frisch, Heather Taylor, Andrew Leever, Corey Teply, Nicholas Verghese, Tahiya Alam, Aleksandr Aravkin, Lalit Dandona, Maegan Dirac, Stephen Lim, Ali Mokdad, Tom Pham, Hannah Robinson-Oden, Asrat Wolde
November 4, 2024
Scientific Publication

Forecasting the effects of smoking prevalence scenarios on years of life lost and life expectancy from 2022 to 2050

Dana Bryazka, Marissa Reitsma, Emmanuela Gakidou, Stein Emil Vollset, Austin Ahlstrom, Jason Anderson, Aleksandr Aravkin, Natalia Bhattacharjee, Xiaochen Dai, Lalit Dandona, Rakhi Dandona, Luisa Sorio Flor, Gabriela Gil, Simon Hay, Stephen Lim, Paulina Lindstedt, Tomislav Mestrovic, Ali Mokdad, Vincent Mougin, Erin Mullany, Christopher J.L. Murray, Marie Ng, Tom Pham, Cat Raggi, Austin Schumacher, Amanda Smith, Asrat Wolde, Chun-Wei Yuan
October 2, 2024
Scientific Publication

Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990–2021

Valery Feigin, Christopher J.L. Murray, Theo Vos, Catherine Bisignano, Gregory Roth, Catherine Johnson, Aleksandr Aravkin, Dana Bryazka, Katrin Burkart, Rebecca Cogen, Xiaochen Dai, Lalit Dandona, Rakhi Dandona, Luisa Sorio Flor, Erin Hamilton, Stephen Lim, Tomislav Mestrovic, Ali Mokdad, Christian Razo, Austin Schumacher, Reed Sorensen, Lauryn Stafford, Benjamin Stark
September 18, 2024

GBD data sources

Review and retrieve all GBD data sources from the Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx), the world's largest health data catalog.

Download GBD data

Download estimates generated from studies published in scientific journals, for all rounds of GBD from 2010 to present.

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Estimate

Demographics 1950-2021

Published
March 11, 2024
Estimate

Anemia Prevalence and Years Lived with Disability by Cause 1990-2021

Published
September 1, 2023
Estimate

Sickle Cell Disease Birth Incidence, Prevalence, and Mortality 2000-2021

Published
September 1, 2023
Estimate

Under-5 Mortality by Detailed Age Groups 1950-2019

Published
March 3, 2023

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