Hired vs Member Mortality by Decade

Death rate as a percentage of all members in each group, decade by decade. Hired staff are Sherpas, porters and other contracted workers; members are everyone else (clients, leaders, independent climbers).

0%4%8%12%16%20%19401960198020002020Death rate per memberHired (Sherpa & porters)Members (clients)
Decade Members Hired Member Deaths Hired Deaths % Member Deaths % Hired Deaths
1930s 142 124 2 4 1.408% 3.226%
1950s 757 201 16 9 2.114% 4.478%
1960s 923 206 22 10 2.384% 4.854%
1970s 3363 341 97 58 2.884% 17.009%
1980s 9526 773 200 47 2.100% 6.080%
1990s 12377 1318 159 47 1.285% 3.566%
2000s 16803 4519 138 55 0.821% 1.217%
2010s 17821 8750 148 74 0.830% 0.846%
2020s 9616 5053 50 22 0.520% 0.435%