In Their Words - Statistics

World War II was the single deadliest conflict the world has ever seen, causing many tens of millions of deaths. 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, along with population information to show the relative impact of losses.

	Population 1939	Military Deaths	Civilian Deaths	Jewish Holocaust Deaths	Total Deaths	Deaths as % of Population
Totals	1,961,071,000	25,037,500	41,363,900	5,754,400	72,155,800	3.70%

The total estimated human loss of life caused by World War II was roughly 72 million people. The civilian toll was around 47 million, including about 20 million due to war related famine and disease. The military toll was about 25 million, including the deaths of about 5 million prisoners of war in captivity. The Allies lost around 61 million people, and the Axis lost 11 million.

Statistics About Veterans

16.1 Million - The number of U.S. armed forces personnel who served in World War II between Dec. 1, 1941, and Dec. 31, 1946.
See Table 523 at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-03.html

73% - The proportion of U.S. military personnel who served abroad during WWII.
See Table 523 at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-03.html

16 months - The average time U.S. personnel served overseas during WWII.
See Table 523 at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-03.html

292,000 - The number of U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines killed in battle in WWII.
See Table 523 at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-03.html

5.7 million - The number of World War II veterans counted in Census 2000. The census identified the period of service for World War II veterans as September 1940 to July 1947.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/census_2000/001120.html

210,000 - The estimated number of women in 2002 who were WWII veterans. These women comprised 4.4 percent of WWII vets.
See Table 530 at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-03.html

76.7 years old - The median age of WWII veterans four years ago when the last census was conducted.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/census_2000/001120.html

440,000 - The number of WWII veterans in 2002 who received compensation for service-connected disabilities, about half the number in 1990 (876,000) and nearly two-thirds less than the nearly 1.2 million disabled WWII vets in 1980.
See Table 531 at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-03.html