Rwanda: Battle-related deaths (number of people)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 94.74% from 19 in 2019 (44.51% a year on average, compounded). Since 1990 it is down 99.91% from 1,126 in 1990 (18.67% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 21 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2024, Rwanda had the 35th highest value of the 35 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Rwanda in the 2024 ranking

• Bangladesh — 32nd of 35: 2
• Libya — 33rd of 35: 2
• South Sudan — 34th of 35: 2

What this measures

Battle-related deaths are deaths in battle-related conflicts between warring parties in the conflict dyad (two conflict units that are parties to a conflict). Battle-related deaths refer to those deaths caused by the warring parties that can be directly related to combat. This includes battlefield fighting, guerrilla activities (e.g. hit and-run attacks/ambushes) and all kinds of bombardments of military bases, cities and villages etc. The target for the attacks is either the military forces or representatives for the parties, though there is often substantial collateral damage in the form of civilians being killed in the crossfire, indiscriminate bombings, etc. All fatalities, military as well as civilian, incurred in such situations are counted as battle-related deaths.

Limitations: While the best estimate for battle-related deaths is considered a conservative minimum, the high estimate may still undercount actual fatalities due to unreported events, and users are cautioned that the apparent precision of the numbers does not eliminate underlying uncertainty.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 14 values

Battle-related deaths (number of people) in nearby economies

• Angola — 25 (2024)
• Burundi — 19 (2024)
• Cameroon — 231 (2024)
• Central African Republic — 177 (2024)
• Chad — 69 (2024)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 1,138 (2024)
• Ethiopia — 2,824 (2024)
• Kenya — 66 (2024)
• Mali — 1,008 (2024)
• Mozambique — 151 (2024)
• Niger

More public sector data for Rwanda

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 191.19 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 273.65 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 1.29% (2025)
• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 37 million (2023)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 4.7% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 35,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 0.7% (2020)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 1.5 trillion (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 33.97% (2024)
• Social contributions (current LCU)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Rwanda's battle-related deaths (number of people)?

1 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1990?

It is down 99.91% from 1,126 in 1990 (18.67% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 2,044 in 2001 and the lowest 1 in 2013.

How does Rwanda rank?

35th highest of 35 economies with data for 2024.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset , Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), uri: https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/, publisher: Uppsala University.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator VC.BTL.DETH, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset , Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), uri: https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/, publisher: Uppsala University Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.