Our World
in Data
Oxford Martin School logoUniversity of Oxford logoGlobal Change Data Lab logo
Data

Cholera case-fatality rate

What you should know about this indicator

How is this data described by its producer?

Rationale

A low case fatality rate is an indication of good case management and proper access to health care.

Definition

Proportion of cholera cases which are fatal within a specified time.

Method of measurement

( Number of notified deaths / number of notified cases ) *100

Method of estimation

WHO calculates case fatality rates based on the numbers of cases and deaths as reported by national authorities (Ministries of Health).

Cholera case-fatality rate
WHO calculates case fatality rates based on the numbers of cases and deaths as reported by national authorities. The case fatality rate is the number of reported deaths, divided by the number of reported cases, shown as a percentage.
Source
World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2025); World Health Organization (2023) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
June 1, 2023
Date range
1949–2021
Unit
%

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory

The GHO data repository is WHO's gateway to health-related statistics for its 194 Member States. It provides access to over 1000 indicators on priority health topics including mortality and burden of diseases, the Millennium Development Goals (child nutrition, child health, maternal and reproductive health, immunization, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected diseases, water and sanitation), non communicable diseases and risk factors, epidemic-prone diseases, health systems, environmental health, violence and injuries, equity among others.

Retrieved on
May 19, 2025
Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/data/gho
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.
World Health Organization. 2025. Global Health Observatory data repository. http://www.who.int/gho/en/.

The GHO data repository is WHO's gateway to health-related statistics for its 194 Member States. It provides access to over 1000 indicators on priority health topics including mortality and burden of diseases, the Millennium Development Goals (child nutrition, child health, maternal and reproductive health, immunization, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected diseases, water and sanitation), non communicable diseases and risk factors, epidemic-prone diseases, health systems, environmental health, violence and injuries, equity among others.

Retrieved on
May 19, 2025
Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/data/gho
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.
World Health Organization. 2025. Global Health Observatory data repository. http://www.who.int/gho/en/.

World Health Organization – Cholera reported cases, deaths and case fatality rate

The data is created by combining multiple WHO Weekly Epidemiological Reports for cholera reported cases, deaths and case fatality rate.

The reports for the years 2017-2021 can be found at:

2017: https://web.archive.org/web/20230328164426/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/274655/WER9338-489-497.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2018: https://web.archive.org/web/20230601084841/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/330005/WER9448-561-568-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20221007234707/http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/334242/WER9537-441-448-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2020: https://web.archive.org/web/20230326231135/http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/345271/WER9637-445-454-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2021: https://web.archive.org/web/20230526223955/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/362858/WER9737-453-464-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Retrieved on
November 26, 2024
Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/publications/journals/weekly-epidemiological-record
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.
World Health Organization (2023). Cholera reported cases, deaths and case fatality rate. WHO Weekly Epidemiological Reports.

The data is created by combining multiple WHO Weekly Epidemiological Reports for cholera reported cases, deaths and case fatality rate.

The reports for the years 2017-2021 can be found at:

2017: https://web.archive.org/web/20230328164426/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/274655/WER9338-489-497.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2018: https://web.archive.org/web/20230601084841/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/330005/WER9448-561-568-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20221007234707/http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/334242/WER9537-441-448-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2020: https://web.archive.org/web/20230326231135/http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/345271/WER9637-445-454-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2021: https://web.archive.org/web/20230526223955/https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/362858/WER9737-453-464-eng-fre.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Retrieved on
November 26, 2024
Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/publications/journals/weekly-epidemiological-record
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.
World Health Organization (2023). Cholera reported cases, deaths and case fatality rate. WHO Weekly Epidemiological Reports.

How we process data at Our World in Data

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.

Read about our data pipeline

Reuse this work

  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
  • All data, visualizations, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

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: Cholera case-fatality rate”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-000143/grapher/cholera-case-fatality-rate.html [online resource] (archived on May 12, 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:

World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2025); World Health Organization (2023) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2025); World Health Organization (2023) – processed by Our World in Data. “Cholera case-fatality rate” [dataset]. World Health Organization, “Global Health Observatory”; World Health Organization, “Cholera reported cases, deaths and case fatality rate” [original data]. Retrieved May 12, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-000143/grapher/cholera-case-fatality-rate.html (archived on May 12, 2026).

Download

Quick download

You can download the visualization as an image or download the chart data.