The CDC is reporting that the 2018 flu virus has been one of the worst in recent memory around the United States.
“Influenza activity is still on the rise overall,” CDC’s acting director, Dr. Anne Schuchat said.
There have been spikes in deaths from this year’s flu, and due to the nature of the specific strain that is spreading, the flu vaccine hasn’t been as effective. This equates to more hospitalizations and deaths around the world. According to flu experts, this year’s vaccine hasn’t been as effective against this particular strain of the flu virus.
While the news has been focused on how severe the flu has been in the US, how deadly is the flu around the globe? We pulled country-by-country data from WHO, where available, to build the below map that highlights influenza fatality rate. Each country is coded to show how many people die every year from flu-related illness per 100,000 in population count.
While some countries are riskier than others when it comes to travel during flu season, the biggest fear of most travelers right now is being in public places like airports, or stuck on an airplane with someone infected with the virus.
According to our readers, the flu has directly affected some of their travel plans this year already, with many opting to avoid major travel hubs like airports in order to hopefully minimize their risk. Some have commented to us that they will continue on boldly with their travel plans, unfazed by the virus.
See the full country rankings below:
Ranking | Country |
Death rate out of 100k
|
1 | Croatia | 3.08 |
2 | Finland | 3.77 |
3 | Macedonia | 4.6 |
4 | Italy | 4.89 |
5 | Austria | 5.7 |
6 | Australia | 5.74 |
7 | Cyprus | 6.1 |
8 | Switzerland | 6.37 |
9 | Hungary | 6.46 |
10 | Latvia | 7.54 |
11 | Bosnia/Herzeg. | 7.8 |
12 | Sweden | 8.04 |
13 | Qatar | 8.22 |
14 | Georgia | 8.34 |
15 | New Zealand | 8.39 |
16 | Estonia | 8.64 |
17 | Ukraine | 8.64 |
18 | Spain | 9.43 |
19 | Israel | 9.59 |
20 | Canada | 9.66 |
21 | Luxembourg | 9.77 |
22 | Germany | 9.86 |
23 | France | 10.01 |
24 | Belarus | 10.04 |
25 | Lithuania | 10.1 |
26 | Syria | 10.52 |
27 | United States | 10.59 |
28 | Slovenia | 10.78 |
29 | Iceland | 11.43 |
30 | Lebanon | 11.55 |
31 | Costa Rica | 12.59 |
32 | Turkey | 13.84 |
33 | Malta | 13.89 |
34 | Armenia | 14.47 |
35 | China | 15.11 |
36 | Czech Republic | 15.85 |
37 | Poland | 16.11 |
38 | South Korea | 16.34 |
39 | Ireland | 16.42 |
40 | Bulgaria | 16.78 |
41 | Arab Emirates | 16.87 |
42 | Kyrgyzstan | 17.04 |
43 | Colombia | 17.14 |
44 | Iran | 17.23 |
45 | Netherlands | 17.35 |
46 | Jamaica | 17.47 |
47 | Russia | 17.89 |
48 | Venezuela | 18.31 |
49 | Norway | 18.33 |
50 | Belgium | 18.69 |
51 | Chile | 19.03 |
52 | Denmark | 19.42 |
53 | Greece | 19.48 |
54 | Libya | 19.58 |
55 | Mexico | 19.92 |
56 | Suriname | 20.06 |
57 | Jordan | 20.08 |
58 | Trinidad/Tob. | 20.14 |
59 | Bahrain | 20.67 |
60 | Azerbaijan | 20.69 |
61 | Romania | 20.77 |
62 | Egypt | 21.06 |
63 | Kazakhstan | 21.16 |
64 | Dominican Rep. | 21.23 |
65 | Tunisia | 21.4 |
66 | Mauritius | 22.6 |
67 | Moldova | 22.77 |
68 | Cuba | 23.35 |
69 | United Kingdom | 23.43 |
70 | Iraq | 24.43 |
71 | Uruguay | 24.95 |
72 | Honduras | 25.15 |
73 | Portugal | 25.25 |
74 | Maldives | 25.26 |
75 | Slovakia | 25.27 |
76 | Panama | 25.34 |
77 | Brunei | 26.34 |
78 | Albania | 27.21 |
79 | Barbados | 27.28 |
80 | Nicaragua | 27.63 |
81 | Uzbekistan | 27.94 |
82 | Algeria | 29.19 |
83 | Mongolia | 29.63 |
84 | Bahamas | 29.71 |
85 | Viet Nam | 30.57 |
86 | Paraguay | 31.32 |
87 | Japan | 32.07 |
88 | Fiji | 33.94 |
89 | Kuwait | 34.53 |
90 | Belize | 34.96 |
91 | Sri Lanka | 35.08 |
92 | Oman | 38.28 |
93 | Turkmenistan | 39.18 |
94 | Argentina | 40.06 |
95 | Botswana | 41.55 |
96 | Indonesia | 43.16 |
97 | Ecuador | 43.54 |
98 | Brazil | 43.59 |
99 | Guyana | 43.77 |
100 | Morocco | 44.27 |
101 | Saudi Arabia | 44.89 |
102 | India | 47.8 |
103 | Tajikistan | 47.83 |
104 | El Salvador | 48.63 |
105 | North Korea | 50.33 |
106 | Cambodia | 50.72 |
107 | Bhutan | 54.48 |
108 | Cape Verde | 55 |
109 | Namibia | 55.84 |
110 | South Africa | 59.33 |
111 | Thailand | 60.4 |
112 | Malaysia | 61.07 |
113 | Pakistan | 62.83 |
114 | Bangladesh | 63.12 |
115 | Singapore | 63.75 |
116 | Nepal | 63.82 |
117 | Solomon Isl. | 68.05 |
118 | Timor-Leste | 72.81 |
119 | Peru | 73.155 |
120 | Haiti | 81.44 |
121 | Guatemala | 86.23 |
122 | Zambia | 86.86 |
123 | Madagascar | 88.74 |
124 | Bolivia | 89.3 |
125 | Philippines | 90.4 |
126 | Zimbabwe | 97.22 |
127 | Afghanistan | 97.78 |
128 | Gabon | 98.05 |
129 | Swaziland | 99.2 |
130 | Rwanda | 100.86 |
131 | Mali | 101.45 |
132 | Laos | 103.64 |
133 | Myanmar | 103.89 |
134 | Congo | 105.79 |
135 | Lesotho | 107.01 |
136 | Tanzania | 107.39 |
137 | Djibouti | 118.36 |
138 | Mozambique | 121.19 |
139 | Malawi | 125.65 |
140 | Ghana | 127.53 |
141 | Eritrea | 132.2 |
142 | Comoros | 139.37 |
143 | Uganda | 139.64 |
144 | Mauritania | 141.26 |
145 | Sudan | 144.59 |
146 | Gambia | 149.55 |
147 | DR Congo | 150.42 |
148 | Togo | 158.15 |
149 | Liberia | 158.16 |
150 | Kenya | 165.6 |
151 | Equ. Guinea | 166.09 |
152 | Burundi | 169.22 |
153 | Central Africa | 170.48 |
154 | Angola | 173.54 |
155 | Ethiopia | 176.36 |
156 | Benin | 176.42 |
157 | Cameroon | 181.62 |
158 | Guinea | 182.55 |
159 | Somalia | 188.73 |
160 | Cote d Ivoire | 194.5 |
161 | Niger | 209.03 |
162 | Guinea-Bissau | 210.98 |
163 | Senegal | 215.18 |
164 | Burkina Faso | 220.99 |
165 | New Guinea | 224.71 |
166 | Nigeria | 234.12 |
167 | Sierra Leone | 256.87 |
168 | Chad | 265.86 |
169 | Yemen | 352.37 |
Yemen’s rate of flu deaths just show what US support for Saudi War on Yemen is accomplishing- genocide not just through war but through starvation and destruction of infrastructure
Good job USA, taking care of kids everywhere?
No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t show that at all.
You do understand that Yemen has ISIL and Al-Qaeda elements within their country? Further, most of the fighting is against the Houthi’s (who’s a slogan reads: “God is Greater, Death to America, Death to Israel”) and Yemeni military forces who support the Houthi’s. I’m not OK with that, nor should anyone be OK with that. Those groups kill and terrorize people all the time and that level of extremism needs state sponsored support to end it because individual citizens are not going to stand up to armed extremists; if people oppose them, they die. The world’s governments need to put an end to those elements to remove the ongoing terrorism that comes as a result from that ideology existing.
So to stop people from killing other people, you just kill all of them? Because religion does not allow killing others. And you justify that by saying America is the godblessed country. American logic.
right, clearly all people have been killed. the population of these countries is now zero. idiot. just go collect your paycheck from whichever intelligence agency pays you to spread nonsensical propaganda on the internet and hope they don’t realize what a poor job of it you are doing and “disappear” you in the middle of the night.
What are the real facts about covid. Why is it the most crippling virus today. Why did countries not lick down when there a pneumonia epidemic. Why don’t close down the economy as 2.5 million die of maleria each year. Why don’t they close down the economy due to all the wars that are going on. The list is long. The plague killed millions. The Spanish flue as well but the economy did not get shut down. This is a very strange thing and governments and certain organizations are using this covid to cripple the world’s economy. This vaccine has taken 10 months to develop. Where it took 40 years to control hiv. 15 years TB. Thank you
I read today (April 9th 2020) that Sweden is not applying the same extreme social distancing measures that most other developed countries are, in response to COVID-19. Their reasoning is that Swedes tend to naturally social distance, so it’s not necessary, and if it becomes necessary, they will implement it. The figures here show that this is a very serious mistake. If they were right, they should not be susceptible to the flu either, but they are; and by the time you see it in the population, it’s too late.
John you seem to be unable to read this graphic correctly. Sweden has one of the lowest death rates in the world according to this. You also seem to be taking several leafs of unrelated faith to try your silly conclusion.
The WHO link just goes to a WHO page on the flu that has none of the data cited, is there a relevant link?