Participants = Total number of people who did this activity. For the purpose of this statistic it does not matter how many times they did it. An average driver probably drives about 700 times per year. An average skydiver will jump between 200 and 750 times per year if they are active in the sport.
Fatalaties per year = The number of participants who died per year. In other words, of the 162,850,000 people with driving licenses, 46,000 died.
Rate per 100,000 participants
This was put together by the U.S. Hang Gliding Association using data collected from various air sports organizations and melding it with data from the National Safety Council and other sources. Please note that this data was from 1988 and that skydiving has had a number of signifigant safety improvements since this data was collected including the wide acceptance of Automatic Activation Devices that automatically deploy a reserve parachute at a certain altitude. .
I understand that there is risk in this sport. No single jump is worth the risk of death. For me, however, a lifetime of experience, fun, challenge, adrenaline and friendship is.