More than four million people around the world have died of COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
In total, three countries account for more than a third of all global deaths. The United States, which has the highest number of fatalities at 606,000, accounts for 15 per cent of the global total, followed by Brazil and India.
The grim milestone, announced Wednesday, comes as new cases and deaths are dropping in the US and Europe, where significant numbers of residents have been vaccinated, CNN reports.
But some developing countries, such as Indonesia, are still facing surging outbreaks, as authorities struggle to secure enough vaccines to protect citizens, reports bdnews24.com.
The delta variant, a more transmissible and possibly more dangerous strain of coronavirus, is also contributing to an increase in cases in some countries and regions.
In the US, the delta variant now makes up more than half of all new infections, according to estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
An average of 7,900 deaths were reported each day over the past week, according to JHU. That is 46 per cent less than the global peak of more than 14,700 daily deaths in January, but 57 per cent higher than the pace of about 5,000 daily deaths from this time last year.
The global death toll exceeded 1.0 million on Sept 18, 2020, 191 days after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.
It took 115 days for the global death toll to hit 2.0 million, 88 days to surpass 3.0 million, and another 89.0 days to reach 4.0 million.
Given the difficulty in accurately tracking the spread of the virus especially in the developing world, many experts believe the global death toll is likely significantly higher than the officially reported number.