A stark picture emerges for the Pacific in new estimates showing average death registration completeness of just 19.8%. This leaves governments without the basic information needed to understand why people are dying and how many of these deaths could be prevented.
Four out of every five deaths in the Pacific are not formally recorded, according to estimates published by the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which works alongside the Pacific Community (SPC) in supporting countries to better record births, deaths and other life events.
The Commission’s latest statistical brief finds that the Pacific’s average death registration completeness, at 19.8%, is the lowest in the broader Asia–Pacific region. This is troubling because death registration is a cornerstone of public health and planning, explains Mr Jeff Montgomery, Programme Lead for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics with SPC.
Without it, countries struggle to measure mortality accurately, identify leading causes of death, or track whether policies and health interventions are working, he says. At a personal level, the absence of a death certificate often complicates legal and administrative matters for families.
“Civil registration is central to each person’s legal identity,” Mr Montgomery explains. “Death certificates are crucial for those wrapping up the affairs of a loved one. But as well as fundamental individual rights, comprehensive death registration also underpins decision-making at a country level. Every nation needs good systems for individual, administrative and statistical purposes.”
The ESCAP brief highlights persistent challenges faced by Pacific Island countries and territories in producing reliable mortality statistics. Around half of country submissions lacked national estimates of total deaths, requiring analysts to rely instead on the United Nations’ World Population Prospects to calculate completeness—a workaround that underscores the gaps in national data systems.
Behind the regional average lies sharp variation. Eight Pacific countries report complete death registration, Samoa reports completeness of 92.1%, while Kiribati stands at 80.7%.
Others fall well below that level. Papua New Guinea records just 2%, with Tuvalu at 13.4%, Vanuatu at 33.3%, and the Solomon Islands at 38.7%.
The ESCAP brief’s findings echo long‑standing issues across the Pacific. In response, SPC—with support from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative—is working with most Pacific countries to strengthen death registration and improve the quality of cause‑of‑death information.
This work includes the introduction of digital civil registration systems and the establishment of the Pacific Cause-of-Death Coding Service, a regional approach that allows countries to pool scarce technical expertise. The service currently includes Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Kiribati, with the first statistical briefs expected to be published in March 2026.
For Mr Montgomery, improving death registration is not simply a technical exercise. “As the region continues to grapple with these challenges, this report serves as a call to action,” he says.
“The collective efforts of SPC, its partners, and our member countries and territories are crucial in bridging these data gaps to ensure accurate and reliable mortality estimates for Pacific peoples.”
Further reading:
- SPC–Bloomberg Philanthropies partnership to ensure Pacific Islands births and deaths registered
- ESCAP: Regional estimates of death registration completeness: 2023 Update
For more information on this story, contact Mr Ben Campion, Communications Adviser, Statistics for Development Division, Pacific Community (SPC).
