Zambia: Mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Zambia's mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults) fell 1.9 on 2023 (from 232.52 to 230.62).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −8.5 and a typical year strayed about 17.7 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 34.01 in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 75.43 in 2022. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is downward, about 13.64 a year. A straight line explains 81% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 209.88 for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 50.27, against 93.2 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2024, Zambia had the 54th highest value of the 191 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 Zambia in the 2024 ranking

• Ethiopia — 51st of 191: 242.79
• Sierra Leone — 52nd of 191: 240.31
• Ukraine — 53rd of 191: 235.76
• Philippines — 55th of 191: 229.8
• Bolivia — 56th of 191: 227.68
• Comoros — 57th of 191: 227.54

What this measures

Adult mortality rate, male, is the probability of dying between the ages of 15 and 60--that is, the probability of a 15-year-old male dying before reaching age 60, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year between those ages.

Limitations: Data from United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects are originally 5-year period data and the presented are linearly interpolated by the World Bank for annual series. Therefore they may not reflect real events as much as observed data.

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

All 65 values

Mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults) in nearby economies

• Angola — 269.02 (2024)
• Benin — 287.55 (2024)
• Botswana — 223.69 (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 284.03 (2024)
• Burundi — 283.84 (2024)
• Cabo Verde — 158.59 (2024)
• Cameroon — 272.06 (2024)
• Central African Republic — 390.38 (2024)
• Chad — 378 (2024)
• Comoros

More health data for Zambia

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 14.71% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 15.03% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 4.49 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 40.57% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 4.49 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 41.38% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 8.98 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 40.97% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 13.41% (2025)

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 Zambia's mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults)?

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

How has it changed since 1960?

It is down 27.21% from 316.83 in 1960 (0.5% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 542.91 in 1999 and the lowest 230.62 in 2024.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SP.DYN.AMRT.MA, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division; Human Mortality Database, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), uri: www.mortality.org; University of California, Berkeley (USA), uri: www.mortality.org, note: Human Mortality Database; French Instit… 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.

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