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Data

Number of whales killed globally per decade

About this data

Source
Rocha et al. and International Whaling Commission (2022) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
December 5, 2022
Date range
1900–2010
Unit
whales caught

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Rocha et al. and International Whaling Commission – Whale catch by decade

Data is presented as decadal totals where '1900' is equal to the total catch from 1900 to 1909; '1910' is from 1910 to 1919 etc. For the decade '2010', only the years 2010 to 2015 are currently included.

Data on whale catch is sourced from two sources:

Figures over the 20th century (1900-1999) is from: Rocha, R. C., Clapham, P. J., & Ivashchenko, Y. V. (2014). Emptying the oceans: a summary of industrial whaling catches in the 20th century. Marine Fisheries Review, 76(4), 37-48.

The above paper draws on data originally published by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Data from 2000 onwards is sourced directly from the International Whaling Commissions (IWC) which recorded the number of catches at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220613153315/https://iwc.int/public/downloads/8sXJb/Total_catches_since_1986.pdf

For the bowhead whale we source directly from the IWC from 1989 onwards.

Retrieved on
December 5, 2022
Retrieved from
https://web.archive.org/web/20220613153315/https://iwc.int/public/downloads/8sXJb/Total_catches_since_1986.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Rocha, R. C., Clapham, P. J., and Ivashchenko, Y. V. (2014). Emptying the oceans: a summary of industrial whaling catches in the 20th century. Marine Fisheries Review, 76(4), 37-48; and the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Data is presented as decadal totals where '1900' is equal to the total catch from 1900 to 1909; '1910' is from 1910 to 1919 etc. For the decade '2010', only the years 2010 to 2015 are currently included.

Data on whale catch is sourced from two sources:

Figures over the 20th century (1900-1999) is from: Rocha, R. C., Clapham, P. J., & Ivashchenko, Y. V. (2014). Emptying the oceans: a summary of industrial whaling catches in the 20th century. Marine Fisheries Review, 76(4), 37-48.

The above paper draws on data originally published by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Data from 2000 onwards is sourced directly from the International Whaling Commissions (IWC) which recorded the number of catches at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220613153315/https://iwc.int/public/downloads/8sXJb/Total_catches_since_1986.pdf

For the bowhead whale we source directly from the IWC from 1989 onwards.

Retrieved on
December 5, 2022
Retrieved from
https://web.archive.org/web/20220613153315/https://iwc.int/public/downloads/8sXJb/Total_catches_since_1986.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Rocha, R. C., Clapham, P. J., and Ivashchenko, Y. V. (2014). Emptying the oceans: a summary of industrial whaling catches in the 20th century. Marine Fisheries Review, 76(4), 37-48; and the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

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All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Number of whales killed globally per decade”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from Rocha et al. and International Whaling Commission. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260511-092124/grapher/whales-killed-per-decade.html [online resource] (archived on May 11, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Rocha et al. and International Whaling Commission (2022) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

Rocha et al. and International Whaling Commission (2022) – processed by Our World in Data. “Number of whales killed globally per decade” [dataset]. Rocha et al. and International Whaling Commission, “Whale catch by decade” [original data]. Retrieved May 11, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260511-092124/grapher/whales-killed-per-decade.html (archived on May 11, 2026).

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