The crude death rate (C.D.R) is defined as the number of deaths in the population of a given region or community over a fixed time period (usually a year) per 1000 people in the population.
We can calculate the crude death rate by using the formula,
\text{Crude Death Rate = }\frac{\text{Total number of deaths}}{\text{Total population}} \text{ x }1000If we are measuring the crude death rate over a year, we usually take the number of deaths till the middle of that year for the purposes of our calculation.
Example: Suppose that there are 3600 deaths in a particular population in a given year. If the total population is 120000 then the C.D.R is calculated as,
\text{Crude Birth Rate = }\frac{3600}{120000} \text{ x }1000 = 30Remarks:
- The C.D.R is one of the most widely used measures of mortality, being useful in numerous demographic and public health problems.
- A drawback of the crude death rate is that it ignores the age and sex distribution of the population. Generally speaking, older people have a much higher probability of death compared to younger people.
