AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/glossary/morbidity-mortality

Morbidity vs mortality

Morbidity is illness or ill health in a population. Mortality is death, and the mortality rate counts deaths in a population.

Updated 19 October 2026 (1 minute read)

Summary

  • Morbidity is the rate of ill health in a population, so it covers conditions that do not cause death.
  • Official statistics often measure morbidity in years lived with disability, a measure used in the Global Burden of Disease study.
  • Mortality is death, and the crude death rate is total deaths per 1,000 population. The Office for National Statistics takes these figures from death certificates registered in England and Wales.
  • A condition can cause a great deal of ill health without causing many deaths, so the two measures do not always move together.

Interview questions

  • What is the difference between morbidity and mortality?
  • A report shows that an area has a high mortality rate but average morbidity. What would you want to know before drawing conclusions?
  • What are the arguments for and against judging a population's health by its death rate?

Sources

  1. GOV.UKgov.uk/…/chapter-3-trends-in-morbidity-and-risk-factors
  2. ons.gov.ukons.gov.uk/…/userguidetomortalitystatisticsjuly2017

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