In armed conflicts, the civilian casualty ratio (also civilian death ratio, civilian-combatant ratio, etc.) is the ratio of civilian casualties to combatant casualties, or total casualties. The measurement can apply either to casualties inflicted by or to a particular belligerent, casualties inflicted in one aspect or arena of a conflict or to casualties in the conflict as a whole. Casualties usually refer to both dead and injured. In some calculations, deaths resulting from famine and epidemics are included.
Starting in the 1980s, it has often been claimed that 90 percent of the victims of modern wars are civilians,[1][2][3][4] repeated in academic publications as recently as 2014.[5] These claims, though widely believed and correct regarding some wars, do not hold up as a generalization across every single war, particularly in the case of wars such as those in former Yugoslavia and in Afghanistan which are central to the claims.[6] Some of the citations can be traced back to a 1991 monograph from Uppsala University[7] which includes refugees and internally displaced persons as casualties. Other authors cite Ruth Leger Sivard's 1991 monograph in which the author states "In the decade of the 1980s, the proportion of civilian deaths jumped to 74 percent of the total and in 1990 it appears to have been close to 90 percent."[8]
A wide-ranging study of civilian war deaths from 1700 to 1987 by William Eckhardt states:
On the average, half of the deaths caused by war happened to civilians, only some of whom were killed by famine associated with war...The civilian percentage share of war-related deaths remained at about 50% from century to century. (p. 97)[9]
^Kahnert, M., D. Pitt, et al., Eds. (1983). Children and War: Proceedings of Symposium at Siuntio Baths, Finland, 1983. Geneva and Helsinki, Geneva International Peace Research Institute, IPB and Peace Union of Finland, p. 5, which states: "Of the human victims in the First World War only 5% were civilians, in the Second World War already 50%, in Vietnam War between 50 - 90 % and according to some information in Lebanon 97%. It has been appraised that in a conventional war in Europe up to 99% of the victims would be civilians."
^Graça Machel, "The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children", Report of the expert of the Secretary-General, 26 Aug 1996, p. 9.
^Mary Kaldor, New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1999, p. 107.
^Howard Zinn, Moises Samam, Gino Strada. Just war, Charta, 2005, p. 38.
^James, Paul (2014). "Faces of Globalization and the Borders of States: From Asylum Seekers to Citizens". Citizenship Studies. 18 (2): 219. doi:10.1080/13621025.2014.886440. S2CID 144816686.
^Adam Roberts, "Lives and Statistics: Are 90% of War Victims Civilians?", Survival, London, vol. 52, no. 3, June–July 2010, pp. 115–35. Print edition ISSN 0039-6338. Online ISSN 1468-2699.
^Ahlstrom, C. and K.-A. Nordquist (1991). Casualties of conflict: report for the world campaign for the protection of victims of war. Uppsala, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University.
^Sivard, R. L. (1991). World Military and Social Expenditures 1991. Washington DC, World Priorities, Inc. Vol. 14, pp 22-25.
^Eckhardt, W. "Civilian deaths in wartime." Security Dialogue 20(1): 89-98. Also at [1]
and 22 Related for: Civilian casualty ratio information
the civiliancasualtyratio (also civilian death ratio, civilian-combatant ratio, etc.) is the ratio of civiliancasualties to combatant casualties, or...
A civiliancasualty occurs when a civilian is killed or injured by non-civilians, mostly law enforcement officers, military personnel, rebel group forces...
month in the survey period. Iraq portal Casualty recording Center for Civilians in Conflict Civiliancasualtyratio Health in Iraq International Criminal...
percent) were civilian bystanders. This implies a ratio of civilians to targets of 1:1.44 during the whole period. The civiliancasualtyratio of the targeted...
Estimates of casualties of the Vietnam War vary widely. Estimates can include both civilian and military deaths in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia...
operations in the maritime domain conducted by the Naval Service. Civiliancasualtyratio Endemic warfare Fourth-generation warfare Hague Conventions (1899...
effect. — Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State (1963). Civiliancasualtyratio Non-combatant Casualty Value Moreno-Ocampo, Luis (February 9, 2006), OTP letter...
Air Service when the situation went beyond police capabilities. Civiliancasualtyratio Civil defense Counterinsurgency Counter-IED efforts Counterjihad...
to avoid civiliancasualties, including aborting strikes. In 2007, Israel achieved a civiliancasualtyratio of 1:30, or one civiliancasualty for every...
Mass civiliancasualties of Israeli bombing, shelling and rocket attacks on the Gaza Strip have occurred in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, in which...
to limit civiliancasualties as much as possible, but the defending party does not (or even uses civilians as human shields). Some civilians may be difficult...
groups than from governments. Civilian casualtyratio Downes, Alexander B.; Rangazas, Stephen (2023), "Civilian Victimization During Conflict", Oxford...
Statistics for German World War II military casualties are divergent. The wartime military casualty figures compiled by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht...
backlashes by insurgents and the local population were common. General: Civiliancasualtyratio Collective punishment Death squad Divide and rule Eizenstat and...
Foundation, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 had some of the highest civiliancasualtyratios of any years. U.S. President George W. Bush vastly accelerated...
Second Edition, gives a 1513 reference for military casualty, and an 1844 reference for civilian use. "The Old Northwest Territory: America's First Great...
gives the figure of 289,000 in Russian battles between 1805-1814. Civiliancasualties in the 1812 campaign were probably comparable. Alan Schom estimates...
to avoid civiliancasualties, including aborting strikes. In 2007, Israel achieved a civiliancasualtyratio of 1:30, or one civiliancasualty for every...
north of Seoul. Casualtyratios were grievously disproportionate; Peng had expected a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio, but instead, Chinese combat casualties from 22 to 29...
launched a rocket that apparently landed within the Gaza Strip. Civiliancasualtyratio List of armed conflicts and attacks, January – June 2012 Wikimedia...
Global Information