Who dies from falls?
In the median of the 36 countries that publish causes of death by age, 1.3% of men and 1.2% of women eventually die from falls. It is never the most likely cause of death for any one country, sex and age group — but it adds up over a lifetime.
The risk by age
Chance of dying from falls within 10 years, and its share of all the risk at that age — the median of 36 countries. Your own country's numbers are one click away on its page.
| Age | men | women |
|---|---|---|
| 15–19 | <0.01% (1.3% of the risk) | <0.01% (0.89% of the risk) |
| 20–24 | 0.01% (1.7% of the risk) | <0.01% (0.81% of the risk) |
| 25–29 | 0.01% (1.6% of the risk) | <0.01% (0.77% of the risk) |
| 30–34 | 0.02% (1.6% of the risk) | <0.01% (0.70% of the risk) |
| 35–39 | 0.02% (1.5% of the risk) | <0.01% (0.62% of the risk) |
| 40–44 | 0.04% (1.3% of the risk) | <0.01% (0.56% of the risk) |
| 45–49 | 0.05% (1.3% of the risk) | 0.01% (0.55% of the risk) |
| 50–54 | 0.07% (1.1% of the risk) | 0.02% (0.57% of the risk) |
| 55–59 | 0.10% (1.0% of the risk) | 0.04% (0.56% of the risk) |
| 60–64 | 0.15% (1.0% of the risk) | 0.05% (0.69% of the risk) |
| 65–69 | 0.22% (0.96% of the risk) | 0.10% (0.70% of the risk) |
| 70–74 | 0.38% (1.1% of the risk) | 0.23% (0.99% of the risk) |
| 75–79 | 0.66% (1.2% of the risk) | 0.45% (1.0% of the risk) |
| 80–84 | 1.1% (1.5% of the risk) | 0.85% (1.3% of the risk) |
| 85–89 | 1.5% (1.7% of the risk) | 1.4% (1.6% of the risk) |
| 90–94 | 1.8% (1.8% of the risk) | 1.6% (1.7% of the risk) |
Lifetime chance, men: highest and lowest countries
Lifetime chance, women: highest and lowest countries
What changes the odds
What you can do
- Strength and balance exercise — tai chi, for example — prevents falls in older age.
- Ask your doctor to review medicines that make you dizzy, and have your eyesight checked.
- Make your home safer: good lighting, no loose rugs, grab rails where you need them.
- Women 65 and over: a bone density scan finds thinning bones before a fall breaks a hip.
What the evidence says
- Exercise programmes cut falls among older people by about a quarter — balance and functional exercise by 24%. — Cochrane review, 2019 (108 trials, 23,407 people)
Act fast: After a fall, get checked — especially if you hit your head or take blood thinners.
Sources: World Guidelines for Falls Prevention in Older Adults (Age and Ageing, 2022); WHO: Falls (fact sheet); Sherrington C et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2019;CD012424. General guidance, not medical advice.
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Questions
- At what age is falls most likely to be the cause of death?
- For men, falls takes its largest share of deaths at 90–94: 1.8% of the risk of dying in the next 10 years, in the median of the 36 countries that publish causes of death by age.
- Which country has the highest risk of dying from falls?
- Of the 36 countries that publish causes of death by age, Slovenia has the highest lifetime chance of dying from falls for men (3.6%), and Moldova the lowest (0.19%).
Computed by Odainn from official mortality statistics (Eurostat; ONS, NRS and NISRA; CDC; Statistics Canada) for 36 countries, latest years — how we calculate. Belarus is left out: deaths by cause and age aren't published together there, so the split by cause is our estimate. Population statistics, not a prediction for any individual. Educational, not medical advice.