What do people die from?br br 56 million people died in 2017 worldwide br br What did they die from?br br The Global Burden of Disease is a major global study on the causes of death and disease published in the medical journal. These estimates of the annual number of deaths by cause are shown here. br This is shown for deaths in India. br br br Source: Causes of Death by Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser - published in February 2018.