Look at the change in population in Europe from 1300 to 1400, during the Black Death epidemic. Use a calculator to determine the
percentage that the population declined between those two centuries. To get the answer, you need to subtract the population between the two centuries. Then, divide this difference in the population with the population in the year 1300. Finally, multiply by 100 to get the decline in percentage..
The percentage of the European population who died due to the black death ranges from 30 to 50%, and in some urban areas, especially in southern European countries like Italy, 60-70 and even 80% of the population died.
The black death was very contagious, had an extremely high mortality rate, and medicine at the time had no means to combat the disease, hence the very high death toll of the plague.