How many people die from TB?
Just one death from TB ©Rochind
Many people die as a result of TB. The mortality from TB, that is the number of deaths, is that TB is the tenth leading cause of death worldwide. TB is the leading cause from a single infectious agent, ranking above HIV/AIDS.
In 2019 an estimated 1.21 million people who were HIV negative died of TB.
In addition there were an estimated 208,000 deaths resulting from TB disease among people who were HIV positive.
So in 2019 there were an estimated total of 1,418,000 TB related deaths.
A single death from TB
is a tragedy for those people left behind. But it is also a terrible way to die.
Coronavirus deaths & impact
Policies widely adopted in response to the ongoing pandemic of Covid-19, particularly lockdowns and reassignments of health personnel and equipment, are having an impact on the performance of global TB detection and care programmes.
A global TB case detection decrease by an average 25% over a period of 3 months, (as compared to the level of detection before the pandemic) will lead to a predicted additional 190,000 TB deaths. This will bring the total predicted deaths from TB in 2020 to 1.66.million deaths. This is near the global level of TB mortality of 2015. This would be a serious setback in the progress towards the End TB targets.1.
Deaths in children
In 2019 an estimated 194,000 HIV negative children died from TB as well as an estimated 36,000 HIV positive children. So it is estimated that in total 230,000 children died from TB. This is greater than the number of children who died in 2018.
Most of these deaths could have been prevented with earlier diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
How many adults died from TB in 2019 in different parts of the world?
| WHO Region | Total | HIV Negative TB Mortality Male > 14 Years | HIV Negative TB Mortality Female > 14 Years | HIV Positive TB Mortality Male > 14 Years | HIV Positive TB Mortality Female > 14 Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 454,000 | 201,000 | 116,000 | 70,000 | 67,000 |
| Americas | 22,200 | 11,000 | 5,400 | 4,500 | 1,300 |
| Eastern Mediterranean | 64,430 | 35,000 | 27,000 | 1,800 | 630 |
| Europe | 23,680 | 14,000 | 5,500 | 3,200 | 980 |
| South-East Asia | 552,900 | 334,000 | 201,000 | 13,000 | 4,900 |
| Western Pacific | 67,980 | 42,000 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 980 |
| Global Total | 1,185,190 | 637,000 | 374,900 | 97,500 | 75,790 |
How many children died from TB in 2019 in different parts of the world
| WHO Region | Total | HIV Negative TB Mortality Male 0-14 Years | HIV Negative TB Mortality Female 0-14 Years | HIV positive TB mortality Male 0-14 years | HIV positive TB Mortality Female 0-14 Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 93,000 | 32,000 | 28,000 | 18,000 | 15,000 |
| Americas | 1,190 | 570 | 470 | 80 | 70 |
| Eastern Mediterranean | 13,959 | 7,300 | 6,400 | 139 | 120 |
| Europe | 772 | 400 | 350 | 12 | 10 |
| South-East Asia | 99,040 | 52,000 | 45,000 | 1,100 | 940 |
| Western Pacific | 22,300 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 160 | 140 |
| Global Total | 230,261 | 104,270 | 90,220 | 19,491 | 16,280 |
TB deaths for "low burden" countries
The lowest rates, that is the countries least affected by TB are found mostly in high income countries. This includes most countries in Western Europe. In these countries the incident rate is less than 10 cases per 100,000 population per year.
Countries with a very low incident rate tend to have different aims with regard to TB, compared to the high incidence countries. For example with TB in the United States of America, the aim is the eradication of TB.
The deaths from TB in other "low burden" countries will be included here by request.
| Country | HIV Negative TB Mortality | HIV Positive TB Mortality | Population (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 310 | 30 | 68 |
| United States of America | 540 | 71 | 329 |
TB deaths for “high burden” countries
Of all the countries that report their TB statistics to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 22 countries that are referred to as the TB “high burden” countries. These countries have been prioritized at a global level since 2000. In 2015 it was decided by WHO that the lists would be revised but that there would still be three lists. Each list would contain 30 countries. There is more about this on the TB high burden countries page.
The country with the highest estimated number of deaths is India with an estimated 436,000 deaths in HIV negative adults and 9,500 in HIV positive adults. This does though need to be considered in the context of India's very large population. There is more about TB in India. South Africa has the highest estimated number of HIV positive deaths. There is more about TB in South Africa. There is also more about TB in Pakistan and TB in Brazil.
The following is the estimated mortality from TB for each of the 30 countries in the main high TB burden list.
| Country | HIV Negative TB Mortality | HIV Positive TB Mortality | Population (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | 19,000 | 3,700 | 31,800 |
| Bangladesh | 47,000 | 190 | 163,000 |
| Brazil | 4,800 | 1,900 | 211,000 |
| Cambodia | 3,000 | 380 | 16,500 |
| Central African Republic | 4,800 | 3,100 | 4,750 |
| China | 37,000 | 2,400 | 1,430,000 |
| Congo | 3,000 | 2,300 | 5,380 |
| DPR Korea | 20,000 | 68 | 25,700 |
| DR Congo | 43,000 | 10,000 | 86,800 |
| Ethiopia | 24,000 | 2,200 | 112,000 |
| India | 440,000 | 9,700 | 1,370,000 |
| Indonesia | 93,000 | 5,300 | 271,000 |
| Kenya | 19,000 | 13,000 | 52,600 |
| Lesotho | 950 | 3,300 | 2,130 |
| Liberia | 2,700 | 1,000 | 4,940 |
| Mozambique | 21,000 | 22,000 | 30,400 |
| Myanmar | 21,000 | 3,700 | 54,000 |
| Namibia | 1,600 | 1,500 | 2,490 |
| Nigeria | 125,000 | 32,000 | 201,000 |
| Pakistan | 43,000 | 1,300 | 217,000 |
| Papua New Guinea | 4,500 | 250 | 8,780 |
| Philippines | 26,000 | 600 | 108,000 |
| Russian Federation | 9,200 | 1,300 | 146,000 |
| Sierra Leone | 2,600 | 700 | 7,810 |
| South Africa | 21,000 | 42,000 | 58,600 |
| Thailand | 9,200 | 2,300 | 69,600 |
| UR Tanzania | 22,000 | 16,000 | 58,000 |
| Viet Nam | 11,000 | 2,200 | 96,500 |
| Zambia | 4,800 | 13,000 | 17,900 |
| Zimbabwe | 1,100 | 3,500 | 14,600 |
| Total | 1,080,000 | 201,000 | 4,880,000 |
Page Updating
This page was last updated in May 2021.
Author Annabel Kanabus
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- Glaziou, P, "Predicted impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global tuberculosis deaths in 2020, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.28.20079582v1[↩]
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