The death rate is the number of deaths, all causes combined, of a population over a period out of the average total population over that same period. It is expressed as a percentage.

In France, in 2019, the average population was 66,977,703 people. The number of deaths over the same period is 620,632 people. Thus the mortality rate over the period is:

This death rate can be defined as a crude death rate.

It should not be confused with the specific mortality rate which is the mortality rate attached to a part of the population. For example: the infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of children under 1 year of births over a year.