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Crude rate: what it means

A rate calculated by dividing events by the whole population, with no adjustment for differences in age structure between places or over time.

A crude rate is the simplest rate: total events divided by the total population, usually expressed per 100,000 or per 1,000. The crude death rate, for example, is all deaths in a year divided by the mid-year population.

Worked example

Area A has 1,000 hypothetical deaths among 100,000 people: a crude rate of 1,000 per 100,000. Area B has 600 deaths among 100,000 people: 600 per 100,000. If a third of A's residents are over 75 and only a tenth of B's are, A's higher crude rate may reflect its older population rather than worse health at any given age.

How it trips up claims

  • Crude death and disease rates usually rise as a population ages, even if the risk at every age is falling.
  • Comparing a seaside retirement area with a university city on crude rates mostly compares their age profiles.
  • To compare fairly, ONS and health bodies publish an age-standardised rate alongside or instead of the crude rate.

Crude rates are still useful for planning, because they show the actual demand an area faces.

Also searched as: crude death rate, crude mortality rate, unadjusted rate

Official definitions: ONS: Mortality statistics in England and Wales, quality and methodology information · Office for Health Improvement and Disparities: Fingertips public health data

Key figures where it matters

Questions that use this term

Related terms

  • Age-standardised rate: A rate adjusted to a standard population age structure, so that places or years with older or younger populations can be compared fairly.
  • Rate per 100,000: The number of events divided by the population and multiplied by 100,000, so areas of different sizes can be compared on a like-for-like basis.
  • Cohort: A group of people who share a starting point, such as being born in the same year or starting school together, followed over time.

More averages, rates and risk terms: Median · Mean · Per capita (per head) · Rate per 100,000 · Age-standardised rate · Odds, risk, relative and absolute risk · Deciles and quintiles · Weighted average.