fatality rate

noun

plural fatality rates

: the number of deaths from a specific cause

Last year, South Carolina had the nation's third-highest highway fatality rate, with 1,064 people killed in wrecks on the state's roads.

—Joseph S. Stroud

McGuire is a practitioner of what he calls the king of all extreme sports. BASE—an acronym for building, antenna, span (bridge) and earth (cliffs)—jumping has one of the sporting world's highest fatality rates: in its 18-year history, 46 participants have been killed.

—Karl Taro Greenfield

specifically : case fatality rate

Dysentery, in which fatality rates in untreated cases range as high as 50 percent, is especially dangerous to children.

—James C. Riley

Examples of fatality rate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Out of the 15 states and District of Columbia, all with hands-free laws before 2018, 12 saw a decrease in their traffic fatality rates within two years after passing and enforcing their new laws and two states do not have available data. —Marina Johnson, The Indianapolis Star, 30 Mar. 2024

But critics say there aren't enough finished projects in enough cities to make a significant change to overall fatality rates. —Stephen Stock, CBS News, 28 Mar. 2024

In California, the vehicle fatality rate was about 1.38 deaths per 100 million miles driven, according to the state Office of Traffic Safety. —Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024

The mortality rate of Covid-19 was unknown, but to give just one example of the potential fatality rate, by late March, 2020, New York City was using refrigerated trucks as temporary morgues. —Bill Donahue, Billboard, 20 Mar. 2024

The rarity of Gila monster envenomation and low fatality rate may contribute to the lack of antivenom. —Scott Travers, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024

Meanwhile, the fatality rate during the first half of 2023 was 1.24 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, up 16% from the same 2019 period, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. —Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2024

The World Health Organization estimates the Nipah virus’s fatality rate to be between 40 and 75 percent and has listed it as a priority disease because of its epidemic potential. —Jennifer Hassan, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2023

Or rural Robeson County, N.C., where a mostly Native American and Black population struggles with one of the state’s worst fatality rates. —USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

fatality rate

noun

: the number of deaths from a specific cause

… the inclusion of air bags and other design improvements in vehicles, the use of seat belts and even the increasing maturity of the driving population have combined to lower the fatality rate on U. S. highways by 29 percent since 1987.

—Stefan Thomke et al., Scientific American

specifically : case fatality rate

Dysentery, in which fatality rates in untreated cases range as high as 50 percent, is especially dangerous to children.

—James C. Riley, The American Historical Review