Claim: An X user,  @talk2veee posted a video claiming Nigeria has the highest mortality rate in the world

Verdict: False. Though Nigeria struggles with significant health issues, made worse by inadequate funding and ineffective governance. However, it is false to state that Nigeria leads the world in mortality rates.

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‘Mortality rate’ refers to the frequency of deaths in a defined population over a specific period. It can be measured in several ways: Crude mortality rate – total number of deaths in a year. Age-specific mortality rate – deaths within a particular age group: Cause-specific mortality rate – deaths attributed to a particular cause; Sex-specific mortality rate – deaths calculated separately for males and females.

In Nigeria, natural disasters (13.8%) and malaria (12.5%) were the leading causes of death as of 2021. Other contributors include conflict, gun violence, and poor access to healthcare.

To address these challenges, the World Bank recently approved a $570 million primary health care project to close financing gaps and improve services for vulnerable communities.

However, government underfunding remains a major issue. For example, only ₦36 million was released to the Ministry of Health out of the ₦218 billion appropriated for its 2025 capital expenditure. This chronic neglect has worsened mortality rates, especially among children and women.

In the viral video, @talk2veee argued that Nigerians should be more outraged at political leaders, citing Nigeria’s allegedly having the highest mortality rate in the world. The video gained significant traction, with 212k views, 9,980 likes, and 2,996 bookmarks. Many commenters agreed with the speaker’s claims.

See the screenshot of the video below:

Verification

Data from World Population Review shows Nigeria’s crude death rate in 2023 was 11.7 deaths per 1,000 people, ranking 175th out of 193 countries. This means many countries have higher mortality rates.

Examples are Ukraine – ~13.6 per 1,000; Japan – ~12.9 per 1,000; and Germany – ~12.1 per 1,000, countries with a larger elderly population.

Nigeria recorded about 1.8 million deaths in 2023, but this figure reflects its large population (227+ million), not an unusually high death rate. By comparison, China (10.7M deaths) and India (9.8M deaths) had far higher totals.

Importantly, Nigeria does have one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates globally, which may explain the misconception.

According to 2023 data cited in The Global Economy.com, Nigeria’s crude death rate was 11.74 per 1,000, down from 11.95 in 2022. The world average is 7.70 per 1,000. Historically, Nigeria’s rate peaked at 26.46 per 1,000 in 1960.

Similarly, a 2023 report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism ranked Nigeria 15th among countries with the highest mortality rates, not first.

Conclusion: Nigeria faces serious health challenges, worsened by poor governance and underfunding. However, the claim that Nigeria has the highest mortality rate in the world is false.

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