Autopsy rate by country
The share of all deaths for which an autopsy was performed. Autopsies may be used to determine the cause of sudden deaths; when there is a lack of doctors and nurses, medical records, or death certificate training; or for other legal or cultural reasons.
What the numbers show
Autopsy rate is currently reported for 36 countries. The highest value is 83.9% in Armenia; the lowest is 0.9% in Israel.
The median across all reporting countries is 8.0%, and the mean is 13.2%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 93.
Over the past decade 7 countries rose and 29 fell. The largest increase was in Russia (up 59.2%), and the largest decrease in Turkmenistan (down 82.1%).
Autopsy rate: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Armenia | 83.9% | 2020 | up 40.8% | rising |
| 2 | Russia | 70.2% | 2020 | up 59.2% | rising |
| 3 | Ukraine | 29.4% | 2010 | up 10.9% | flat |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 29.1% | 2019 | down 22.0% | rising |
| 5 | Moldova | 24.7% | 2021 | down 32.5% | flat |
| 6 | Hungary | 22.0% | 2020 | down 40.8% | falling |
| 7 | Finland | 18.2% | 2020 | down 38.9% | falling |
| 9 | Estonia | 17.3% | 2020 | down 15.6% | falling |
| 10 | United Kingdom | 15.6% | 2020 | down 24.3% | falling |
| 11 | Czechia | 13.7% | 2020 | down 49.6% | falling |
| 12 | Belarus | 13.2% | 2019 | down 9.0% | rising |
| 13 | Lithuania | 12.9% | 2020 | down 33.8% | falling |
| 14 | Iceland | 12.0% | 2020 | up 20.0% | falling |
| 15 | Latvia | 11.7% | 2021 | down 19.3% | falling |
| 16 | Sweden | 8.9% | 2020 | down 21.2% | volatile |
| 17 | Slovakia | 8.6% | 2021 | down 31.2% | falling |
| 17 | Austria | 8.6% | 2020 | down 49.7% | falling |
| 19 | Norway | 8.0% | 2020 | up 10.1% | falling |
| 21 | Azerbaijan | 7.9% | 2012 | up 38.6% | rising |
| 22 | Portugal | 7.0% | 2019 | up 11.1% | falling |
| 23 | Uzbekistan | 6.7% | 2013 | down 29.5% | falling |
| 24 | Croatia | 5.6% | 2019 | down 41.1% | falling |
| 24 | Romania | 5.6% | 2020 | down 11.1% | falling |
| 26 | Kyrgyzstan | 5.0% | 2020 | down 58.0% | falling |
| 27 | Turkey | 4.8% | 2019 | down 14.3% | falling |
| 28 | Cyprus | 4.7% | 2020 | down 19.4% | falling |
| 29 | Switzerland | 3.5% | 2019 | down 39.7% | volatile |
| 30 | Bulgaria | 2.9% | 2020 | down 43.1% | volatile |
| 31 | North Macedonia | 2.7% | 2003 | down 35.7% | falling |
| 31 | Turkmenistan | 2.7% | 1997 | down 82.1% | volatile |
| 33 | Denmark | 2.6% | 2020 | down 42.6% | volatile |
| 35 | Netherlands | 1.5% | 2020 | down 54.5% | volatile |
| 36 | Tajikistan | 1.3% | 1996 | down 81.9% | falling |
| 37 | Serbia | 1.2% | 2017 | down 40.0% | falling |
| 38 | Georgia | 1.1% | 2003 | down 57.7% | falling |
| 39 | Israel | 0.9% | 2019 | down 60.9% | volatile |
About this data
The share of all deaths for which an autopsy was performed. Autopsies may be used to determine the cause of sudden deaths; when there is a lack of doctors and nurses, medical records, or death certificate training; or for other legal or cultural reasons.