Country with the most fatal snake bites
Who
India
What
58000/year people
Where
India ()
When

Estimates based on medical data extrapolated from the period 2000–19 indicate that 1.2 million people in India died from snakebites over the two decades, equating to an average of 58,000 deaths per annum. This represents around half of the global snakebite deaths, with the World Health Organization estimating that 81,000–138,000 people die each year from snakebites worldwide. The findings were reported in the journal eLife on 7 July 2020.


The same study estimated that the total number of snakebites in the year 2015 was between 1.11 and 1.77 million; of these, they suggest 0.77 to 1.24 million represented envenomations, with the remainder being "dry bites" or bites by non-venomous species.

The most common culprit of snakebites, at least among cases where a species has been named in hospital or autopsy reports, is the Russell's viper (Daboia russelii), attributed in 43.2% of the reports. Other significant contributors to the prevalence of snakebites in India are kraits (genus Bungarus) and cobras (genus Naja).

This is an increase from a 2011 study which estimated that India had 45,900 annual snakebite deaths annually.

The study was a collaboration between the University of Toronto (Canada), the University of Oxford (UK), the Centre for Herpetology/Madras Crocodile Bank, the Indian Council of Medical Research and St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences (all India).