How many people have died climbing Everest?

339 people had died on Everest by the end of 2025, according to the Himalayan Database: 229 on the Nepal side and 110 on the Tibet side. 132 of them were hired workers, most of them Sherpas. That is about one death for every 100 summits, and the rate is almost the same on both sides.

The worst years

No year since 1981 has passed without a death. The 1996 season, when 15 climbers died, is the best known, through the books written about it. 2023 was the deadliest season of recent years, with 18 deaths.

What kills climbers

On the upper mountain it is rarely a fall. Most die of exhaustion, the cold, altitude illness, a heart attack or stroke above 8,000 m26.247 ft, often while still attached to the fixed rope. Lower down, on the Nepal side, the Khumbu Icefall can collapse without warning, and the Sherpas who carry loads through it many times a season are the ones most exposed. The routes other than the two normal ones carry under 2% of all ascents but account for about one in five deaths. Many of the dead remain on the mountain, because nobody can carry a body down from that altitude.

Is it getting safer?

Per summit, yes: far more people climb Everest than in the 1990s, with better forecasts, fixed ropes and oxygen, and the death rate per summit has fallen. Per season, no: crowding on summit day, cheaper expeditions with thin support, and climbers without the experience to know when to turn back keep the toll high.

The numbers in full are in How many people have climbed Everest?, and the risks and how to manage them in our guide chapter Danger, Death Zone and turnaround. Source: Everest by the Numbers: 2026 Edition, Alan Arnette, from the Himalayan Database.