Cases of fatal occupational injury in United States

United States: Cases of fatal occupational injury was 5,283 in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
5,283
Change on year
down 3.7%
World rank
2nd
of 129 countries
All-time high
6,632
in 1994
All-time low
2,800
in 1991
Years of data
48
1976–2023

Cases of fatal occupational injury in United States, 1976–2023

02.0k4.0k6.0k197619992023

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

United States recorded 5,283 for cases of fatal occupational injury in 2023.

The figure is down 3.7% on the previous year and up 15.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, cases of fatal occupational injury in United States peaked at 6,632 in 1994 and was at its lowest, 2,800, in 1991.

That places United States 2nd out of 129 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 48 years of available data.

Cases of fatal occupational injury in United States, year by year

Annual values for Cases of fatal occupational injury in United States, 1976 to 2023.
Year Value Change
1976 4,500 —
1977 4,760 +5.8%
1978 4,590 -3.6%
1979 4,950 +7.8%
1980 4,400 -11.1%
1981 4,370 -0.7%
1982 4,090 -6.4%
1983 3,090 -24.4%
1984 3,740 +21.0%
1985 3,750 +0.3%
1986 3,610 -3.7%
1987 3,400 -5.8%
1988 3,300 -2.9%
1989 3,600 +9.1%
1990 2,900 -19.4%
1991 2,800 -3.4%
1992 6,217 +122.0%
1993 6,331 +1.8%
1994 6,632 +4.8%
1995 6,275 -5.4%
1996 6,202 -1.2%
1997 6,238 +0.6%
1998 6,055 -2.9%
1999 6,054 -0.0%
2000 5,920 -2.2%
2001 5,915 -0.1%
2002 5,534 -6.4%
2003 5,575 +0.7%
2004 5,764 +3.4%
2005 5,734 -0.5%
2006 5,840 +1.8%
2007 5,657 -3.1%
2008 5,214 -7.8%
2009 4,551 -12.7%
2010 4,690 +3.1%
2011 4,693 +0.1%
2012 4,628 -1.4%
2013 4,585 -0.9%
2014 4,821 +5.1%
2015 4,836 +0.3%
2016 5,190 +7.3%
2017 5,147 -0.8%
2018 5,250 +2.0%
2019 5,333 +1.6%
2020 4,764 -10.7%
2021 5,190 +8.9%
2022 5,486 +5.7%
2023 5,283 -3.7%

United States compared with similar countries

  • United States's 5,283 is above the median for high income countries, which is 36, 146.8× the median. (60 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Cases of fatal occupational injury in United States changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
1992 +122.0% 2,800 6,217

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 4,700 4,500 4,950 4
1980s 3,735 3,090 4,400 10
1990s 5,570 2,800 6,632 10
2000s 5,570 4,551 5,920 10
2010s 4,917 4,585 5,333 10
2020s 5,181 4,764 5,486 4

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 1 China 14,924 compare
  2. 3 Brazil 2,938 compare
  3. 4 India 2,140 compare
  4. 5 Turkey 1,905 compare

See the full ranking of 129 places →

More work & labour data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is cases of fatal occupational injury in United States?
Cases of fatal occupational injury in United States was 5,283 in 2023, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest cases of fatal occupational injury recorded in United States?
The highest recorded value was 6,632 in 1994.
What is the lowest cases of fatal occupational injury recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 2,800 in 1991.
How does United States rank for cases of fatal occupational injury?
United States ranks 2nd out of 129 countries with data for 2023.
Is cases of fatal occupational injury rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is up 15.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United States data come from?
The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Cases of fatal occupational injury. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 48 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Cases of fatal occupational injury in United States. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 24 October 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/cases-of-fatal-occupational-injury/united-states/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/cases-of-fatal-occupational-injury/united-states/">Cases of fatal occupational injury in United States</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Cases of fatal occupational injury
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
129 places, 3,527 data points, 1970–2024
Last refreshed

A case of occupational injury is the case of a worker incurring an occupational injury as a result of an occupational accident. An occupational injury that is fatal is the result of an occupational accident where death occurred within one year from the day of the accident. Data disaggregated by economic activity are provided according to the latest version of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) available for that year. Data may have been regrouped from national classifications, which may not be strictly compatible with ISIC. For more information, refer to the Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSH) database description.