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World War II casualties

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World War II was humanity's deadliest war, causing tens of millions of deaths. The tables below provide a detailed country-by-country count of human losses.

Contents

1 Total human losses 2 Recent historical scholarship 3 Casualties by country
3.1 Notes
4 Casualties by alliance 5 Casualties by branch of service
5.1 Notes
6 Footnotes

[edit] Total human losses

The total estimated human loss of life caused by World War II was roughly 72 million people, making it the deadliest and most destructive war in human history. The civilian toll was around 47 million, including 20 million deaths due to war-related famine and disease. The military toll was about 25 million, including the deaths of about 4 million prisoners of war in captivity. The Allies lost approximately 61 million people, and the Axis powers lost 11 million.

[edit] Recent historical scholarship

Nazi massacre in Kerch, 1942. The death toll in the Soviet Union during World War II was immense.

World War II casualty statistics vary to a great extent. Estimates of the death toll range from 50 million to over 70 million.[36] Recent historical scholarship has shed new light on the casualties of World War II. Research in Russia since the fall of communism has revised the estimate of Soviet war dead. Losses of the USSR, within postwar borders, are now estimated at 26.6 million.[37] Historians in post-communist Poland now estimate the losses of Polish citizens at between 4.9 and 5.1 million in German hands.[43][94][47] The German Army historian Dr. Rüdiger Overmans published a study in 2000 that estimated German military dead and missing at 5.3 million.[6] The war dead totals on this page for the British Commonwealth are based on the research by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to identify and commemorate Commonwealth war dead.[29] The casualties listed here include about 12 million war related famine deaths in China, Indonesia, French Indochina and India that are often omitted from other compilations of World War II casualties.[9][5]

[edit] Casualties by country

The casualties of World War II were suffered disproportionately by the various participants. This is especially true regarding civilian casualties. The following chart gives data on the casualties suffered by each country, along with population information to show the relative impact of losses. Military casualties include battle deaths(KIA) and personnel missing in action,(MIA) as well as fatalities due to accidents, disease and deaths of prisoners of war in captivity. Civilian casualties include deaths caused by strategic bombing, Nazi persecution, Japanese war crimes, population transfers in the Soviet Union and deaths due to war related famine and disease. Jewish losses in the Holocaust are listed separately for each nation, since they are known. Compiling or estimating the numbers of deaths caused during wars and other violent conflicts is a controversial subject. Historians often put forward many different estimates of the numbers killed during World War II.[36] The distinction between military and civilian casualties caused directly by warfare and collateral damage is not always clear cut. For nations that suffered huge losses such as the U.S.S.R, China, Poland, Germany and Yugoslavia, our sources can give us only the total estimated population loss caused by the war and a rough estimate of the breakdown of deaths caused by military activity, crimes against humanity and war related famine. The footnotes give a detailed breakdown of the casualties and their sources.

Human Losses of World War Two by Country
Country Population 1939 Military deaths Civilian deaths Jewish Holocaust deaths Total deaths Deaths as % of 1939 population
 Albania[1] 1,073,000 28,000 200 28,200 2.63%
 Australia[2] 6,998,000 39,400 700 40,100 0.57%
 Austria[3] 6,653,000 40,500 65,000 105,500 1.59%
 Belgium[4] 8,387,000 12,100 49,600 24,400 86,100 1.02%
 Brazil[5] 40,289,000 1,000 1,000 2,000 0.00%
 Bulgaria[6] 6,458,000 22,000 3,000 25,000 0.38%
 Burma[7] 16,119,000 22,000 250,000 272,000 1.16%
 Canada[8] 11,267,000 45,300 45,300 0.40%
 Republic of China[9] 517,568,000 3,800,000 16,200,000 20,000,000 3.86%
 Cuba[10] 4,235,000 100 100 0.00%
 Czechoslovakia[11] 15,300,000 25,000 43,000 277,000 345,000 2.25%
 Denmark[12] 3,795,000 2,100 1,000 100 3,200 0.08%
 Estonia[13] 1,134,000 48,000 1,000 49,000 4.62%
 Ethiopia[14] 17,700,000 5,000 95,000 100,000 0.6%
 Finland[15] 3,700,000 95,000 2,000 97,000 2.62%
 France[16] 41,700,000 217,600 267,000 83,000 567,600 1.35%
 French Indochina[17] 24,600,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 4.07%
 Nazi Germany[18][19][20][21] 69,623,000 5,533,000 1,600,000 160,000 7,293,000 10.47%
 Greece[22] 7,222,000 20,000 220,000 71,300 311,300 4.31%
 Hungary[23] 9,129,000 300,000 80,000 200,000 580,000 6.35%
 Iceland[24] 119,000 200 200 0.17%
 Indian Empire[25] 378,000,000 87,000 1,500,000 1,587,000 0.42%
 Indonesia[26] 69,435,000 4,000,000 4,000,000 5.76%
 Iran[27] 14,340,000 200 200 0.00%
 Iraq[28] 3,698,000 1,000 1,000 0.03%
 Ireland[29] 2,960,000 200 200 0.00%
 Italy[30] 44,394,000 301,400 145,100 8,000 454,500 1.02%
 Japan[31] 71,380,000 2,120,000 580,000 2,700,000 3.78%
 Korea[32] 23,400,000 378,000 378,000 1.6%
 Latvia[33] 1,995,000 147,000 80,000 227,000 11.38%
 Lithuania[34] 2,575,000 212,000 141,000 353,000 13.71%
 Luxembourg[35] 295,000 1,300 700 2,000 0.68%
 Malaya[36] 4,391,000 100,000 100,000 2.28%
 Malta[37] 269,000 1,500 1,500 0.56%
 Mexico[38] 19,320,000 100 100 0.00%
 Mongolia[39] 819,000 300 300 0.04%
 Netherlands[40] 8,729,000 15,800 109,300 106,000 231,100 2.65%
 Newfoundland[41] 300,000 1,000 100 1,100 0.37%
 New Zealand[42] 1,629,000 11,900 11,900 0.67%
 Norway[43] 2,945,000 3,000 5,800 700 9,500 0.32%
 Philippines[44] 16,000,000 57,000 90,000 147,000 0.92%
Micronesia[45] 1,900,000 57,000 57,000 3.00%
 Poland[46] 34,849,000 240,000 2,360,000 3,000,000 5,600,000 16.07%
 Portuguese Timor[47] 500,000 55,000 55,000 11.00%
 Romania[48] 19,934,000 300,000 64,000 469,000 833,000 4.22%
 Singapore[49] 728,000 50,000 50,000 6.87%
 South Africa[50] 10,160,000 11,900 11,900 0.12%
 Soviet Union[51] 168,500,000 10,700,000 11,400,000 1,000,000 23,100,000 13.71%
 Spain[52] 25,637,000 4,500 4,500 0.02%
 Sweden[53] 6,341,000 200 2,000 2,200 0.03%
 Switzerland[54] 4,210,000 100 100 0.00%
 Thailand[55] 15,023,000 5,600 300 5,900 0.04%
 United Kingdom[56] 47,760,000 382,600 67,800 450,400 0.94%
 United States[57] 131,028,000 416,800 1,700 418,500 0.32%
 Yugoslavia[58] 15,400,000 446,000 514,000 67,000 1,027,000 6.67%
Totals 1,961,913,000 25,273,700 41,743,400 5,754,400 72,771,500 3.71%

[edit] Notes

Chart showing World War II deaths by country in millions as well as by percentage of population, and piechart with percentage of military and civilian deaths for the Allied and the Axis Powers.
Figures rounded to the nearest hundredth place. Population in 1939 - Source: Population Statistics[59] War losses are for the national boundaries of 1939. Total Soviet losses in the postwar 1946-91 boundaries [60] were 26.6 million.[37] Total Polish losses in the postwar 1946 boundaries[61] were 2,723,000.[40,183] Total Romanian losses in the postwar 1946 boundaries. [62] were 460,000[2,133] Military Deaths - Losses include deaths of regular military forces from combat as well as non combat causes. Partisan (military) and Resistance fighter deaths forces are included with military losses. The deaths of prisoners of war in captivity and personnel missing in action are also included with military deaths. The armed forces of the various nations are treated as single entities, for example the deaths of Austrians, Soviets, French and ethnic Germans in the Wehrmacht are included with German military losses.
Prisoner of war deaths in Nazi captivity totaled 3.1 Million[17,Table A]600,000 in Soviet captivity [7,278] [3,].
POW deaths in Japanese captivity totaled 467,000. Detailed by country: China 400,000 .[5,Table 5A] ; Netherlands-Military 8,500 [5,Table 5A]; U.K. 12,430 [5,Table 5A]; U.K. Colonies 11,060 [5,Table 5A] ; Canada 270 [5,Table 5A]; Philippines 27,260.[5,Table 5A]; Australia 7,410[5,Table 5A]; and the United States 12,643 [89] Civilian Deaths - Includes losses from military action and war related deaths caused by famine and disease.
The Holocaust took the lives of between 5.1 to 6.0 million Jews.[61] Other groups persecuted and killed by the Nazis [80][60] [49] [48] [17]. included 130,000 to 500,000 Gypsies [48] [50] [62]; 150,000 to 200,000 handicapped persons [51] ; 2.6 to 3 million Soviet prisoners of war[52]; 1.8 to 1.9 million Poles [38]; 4.5 to 8.2 million Soviet civilians [53][60] [48]; about 10,000 Gay men[54]; about 1,000 Jehovah's Witnesses [55]; between 1,000 to 2,000 Roman Catholic clergy [57] and an unknown number of Freemasons [56]. "The fate of black people from 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany and in German-occupied territories ranged from isolation to persecution, sterilization, medical experimentation, incarceration, brutality, and murder." [58] From 1933-1939 the number of German deaths in Nazi concentration camps were 165,415[59], primarily Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, and trade union leaders. [90]
The civilian victims of Japanese war crimes totaled 5,469,000. Detailed by country: China 3,695,000; Indochina 457,000; Korea 378,000; Indonesia 375,000; Malaya 346,000 ; Philippines 119,000, Burma 60,000 and Pacific Islands 57,000. [4, Chap.3]..[5,Table 5A]
The deaths of 400,000 civilians deported during the Soviet annexations in 1939-40 are included with World War II casualties.[47][3,]Civilian losses in the postwar era (1946-47) due to famine and disease are not included with these losses. Jewish Holocaust Deaths. 5.7 million (78%) of the 7.3 million Jews in German dominated Europe perished in the war.-[14,242-244] The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2006-2007 is the source of the military dead for the British Empire The war dead totals listed in the report are based on the research by the CWGC to identify and commemorate Commonwealth war dead. The statistics tabulated The Commonwealth War Graves Commission are representative of the number of names commemorated for all servicemen/women of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth and former U.K. Dependencies, whose death was attributable to their war service. Some auxilliary and civilian organisations are also accorded war grave status if death occurred under certain specified conditions. For the purposes of C.W.G.C. the dates of inclusion for Commonwealth War Dead are 03/09/1939 to 31/12/1947. The report is available online at [63]. Sources - The footnotes list the details of the losses and their sources.

[edit] Casualties by alliance

Military and civilian deaths during World War II for the Allied and the Axis Powers.
Allied Military personnel killed, percentage by country.
Axis Military personnel killed, percentage by country.

[edit] Casualties by branch of service

Casualties of World War Two by Branch of Service
Country Branch of service Number served Killed/missing Wounded Prisoner of war Percent killed
Germany Army[6,333-335] 13,600,000 4,202,000 30.9%
Air Force[6,333-335] 2,500,000 433,000 17.32%
Navy [6,333-335] 1,200,000 138,000 11.5%
Waffen SS[6,333-335] 900,000 314,000 34.9%
Volkssturm and Police[6,333-335] 231,000
Soviet citizens in German military service[7,278][24] 215,000
Unidentified by branch of service (see note below) 6,035,000[7,276] 11,100,000[6,286]
Japan[1,254] Army 6,300,000 1,526,000 85,600 30,000 24.22%
Navy 2,100,000 414,900 8,900 10,000 19.76%
Soviet Union 1939-40 All branches of service[7,51-80] 136,945 205,924
Soviet Union 1941-45 All branches of service[7,85-87] 34,476,700 8,668,400 14,685,593 4,059,000 25.1%
Conscripted Reservists (see note below) [3,13-14] 1,500,000 1,200,000
Paramilitary and Soviet partisan units[3,20-21] 400,000
British Commonwealth[19][18] [29] All branches of service 11,115,000 580,000 475,000 318,000 5.2%
United States[78] Army 11,260,000 318,274 565,861 2.8%
United States Army Air Forces(included in Army[69]) (3,400,000) (88,119) (17,360) 2.5%
Navy 4,183,446 62,614 37,778 1.5%
Marine Corps 669,100 24,511 68,207 3.66%
United States Coast Guard [16,584] 241,093 1,917 0.78%
United States Merchant Marine [79] 243,000 9,521 12,000 3.9%
Unidentified by branch of service [64]. 130,201

[edit] Notes

Germany

The number killed in action was 2,303,320; died of wounds, disease or accidents 500,165; 11,000 sentenced to death by court martial; 2,007,571 missing in action or unaccounted for after the war; 25,000 suicides; 12,000 unknown [6,335]; 459,475 confirmed POW deaths, of whom 77,000 were in the custody of the U.S., UK and France; and 363,000 in Soviet custody. POW deaths includes 266,000 in the post war period after June 1945, primarily in Soviet captivity;[6,239 & 286]. Dr. Rüdiger Overmans believes that “It seems entirely plausible, while not provable,that one half of the missing were killed in action, the other half however in fact died in Soviet custody†[6,289] Soviet sources list the deaths of 474,967 of the 2,652,672 German Armed Forces POW taken in the War. [12,109] The number of wounded includes 1,600,000 permanently disabled which was listed in Geschichte Des Zweiten Weltkrieges A.G. Plötz 1960. P. 81

USSR

The official recorded military war dead from 1941-45 were 8,668,400 comprising 6,329,600 combat related deaths, 555,500 non combat deaths.[7,85]., 500,000 missing in action and 1,283,300 POWs.[7,236]. Figures include Navy losses of 154,771.[7,86] Non combat deaths include 157,000 sentenced to death by court martial[3,21] Casualties in 1939-40 include the following dead and missing, Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 (8,931); Invasion of Poland of 1939 (1,139); Winter War with Finland (1939-40) (126,875).[7,51-80] The number of wounded includes 2,576,000 permanently disabled.[7,91] The number of Soviet POW who survived the war was 1,836,000, plus and additional 939,700 POW and MIA who were redrafted as territory was liberated[7,236] Conscripted reservists is an estimate of men called up, primarily in 1941, who were killed in battle or died as POWs before being listed on active strength.[3,13-14] Estimated total Soviet military war dead fom 1941-45 on the Eastern Front (World War II) including missing in action, POWs and Soviet partisans range from 8.6 to 10.6 million.[3,20-21] There were an additional 127,000 war dead in 1939-40 during the Winter War with Finland[3,20]

British Commonwealth

Number served: UK & Crown Colonies (5,896,000); India (2,582,000), Australia (993,000); Canada (1,100,000); New Zealand (295,000); South Africa (250,000). [1,253-254] Total war related deaths reported by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission: UK & Crown Colonies (383,038); India (86,838), Australia (40,376); Canada (45,363); New Zealand (11,929); South Africa (11,902);[22]. Wounded: UK & Crown Colonies (284,049); India (64,354), Australia (39,803); Canada (53,174); New Zealand (19,314); South Africa (14,363)[19][18][20] Prisoner of war: UK & Crown Colonies (180,488); India (79,481); Australia (26,358); South Africa (14,750); Canada (9,334); New Zealand (8,415)[19][18][20] The 'Debt of Honour Register' from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists the 1.7m men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars. [65]

U.S.

Battle deaths were 292,131, Army 234,874, Navy 36,950, Marine Corps 19,733, Coast Guard 574, and United States Army Air Forces (included in Army) 52,173[69][16,584] The United States Merchant Marine war dead of 9,521 are included with military losses .[79]. During World War Two 1.2 million African Americans served in the Armed Forces and 708 were killed in combat. 350,000 American women served in the military during World War Two and 16 were killed in action.[16,584-585]

[edit] Footnotes

^ Albania
War dead listed here are from Albania : a country study Federal Research Division, Library of Congress ; edited by Raymond E. Zickel and Walter R. Iwaskiw. 2nd ed. 1994 ISBN 0-8444-0792-5. Available online at Federal Research Division of the U.S. Library of Congress, go to 'Country Studies-Albania' -Chapter 5: Sec-World War Two.
Jewish Holocaust victims totaled 200.[14,244] ^ Austria
Military war dead of 260,749 are included with Germany.[6,335] Civilian war dead included 24,000 killed by military operations, including Allied Strategic Bombing.[2,37-42]and 10,000 victims of Nazi political persecution from 1939 to 1945,[17,Table A]the genocide of Roma people of 6,500 persons [13,183]and Jewish Holocaust victims totaling 65,000.[14,244] ^ Australia
The war dead listed here are those reported by the Australian War Memorial website article, Australian Military Statistics: WWII- Australian civilian deaths were due primarily to Air raids on Australia, 1942–43 and Axis naval activity in Australian waters
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission[29].reports total deaths were 40,463, which included Army (26,516), Air Force (11,105), Navy (2,315), Merchant Navy (440), unidentified by branch of service (1), and civilian deaths (86). These losses include war related deaths during 1946-47 (1,731)[22] The 'Debt of Honour Register' from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists the 1.7m men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars. [66]
The preliminary 1945 data for Australian losses was killed 23,365, missing 6,030, wounded 39,803 and POW 26,363.[20] ^ Belgium
Military war dead included 8,800 killed, 500 missing in action, 200 executed, 800 resistance movement fighters and 1,800 POWs. Civilian losses included deaths due to military operations of 32,200 and 16,900 non-Jewish victims of Nazi reprisals and repression.[2,43-45] Losses of about 10,000 in the German Armed Forces are not included in these figures.[6,230] The genocide of Roma people was 500 persons.[13,183]Jewish Holocaust victims totaled 24,387.[14,244] ^ Brazil
The Brazilian Expeditionary Force war dead were 510[1,255], Navy losses in the Battle of the Atlantic were 492. Civilian losses due to attacks on merchant shipping were 470 merchant mariners and 502 passengers.[16,540]