The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Jamie McGoldrick told reporters Monday the figure is based on lists of victims gathered by health facilities and the actual number might be higher, AP reported.
This announcement marks the first time a UN official has confirmed such a high death toll in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation. Earlier, the UN reported 4,200 civilians were killed in the war.
The Saudi Arabia military has been pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to undermine the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to the resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has fled the capital Sana’a.