The Global Health Estimates data accessed, analysed and used through a variety of different channels and mediums. These include an interactive visual summary of global and regional data; data visualization in the Global Health Observatory filtered by country, year, age and sex; key trends by country income group; and downloadable files of the complete data sets.
In 2019, the top 10 causes of death accounted for 55% of the 55.4 million deaths worldwide.
The top global causes of death, in order of total number of lives lost, are associated with three broad topics: cardiovascular (ischaemic heart disease, stroke), respiratory (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections) and neonatal conditions – which include birth asphyxia and birth trauma, neonatal sepsis and infections, and preterm birth complications.
Causes of death can be grouped into three categories: communicable (infectious and parasitic diseases and maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions), noncommunicable (chronic) and injuries.
Leading Causes of Death Globally
At a global level, 7 of the 10 leading causes of deaths in 2019 were noncommunicable diseases. These seven causes accounted for 44% of all deaths or 80% of the top 10. However, all noncommunicable diseases together accounted for 74% of deaths globally in 2019.
In 2019, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia ranked as the 7th leading cause of death. Women are disproportionately affected. Globally, 65% of deaths from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are women.
Diabetes has entered the top 10 causes of death, following a significant percentage increase of 70% since 2000. Diabetes is also responsible for the largest rise in male deaths among the top 10, with an 80% increase since 2000.
Other diseases which were among the top 10 causes of death in 2000 are no longer on the list. HIV/AIDS is one of them. Deaths from HIV/AIDS have fallen by 51% during the last 20 years, moving from the world’s 8th leading cause of death in 2000 to the 19th in 2019.
Kidney diseases have risen from the world’s 13th leading cause of death to the 10th. Mortality has increased from 813 000 in 2000 to 1.3 million in 2019.
ischaemic heart disease caused the most deaths and was responsible for 16% of total deaths. Since 2000, it has seen the largest increase in deaths, rising by more than 2 million to nearly 9 million deaths in 2019.
In 2019, there were 55.4 million deaths and 2.5 billion healthy years of life lost worldwide. And over 30 million – or nearly 3 in 5 people – died of the same 10 causes.
Africa Top Causes of Death
six of the top 10 leading causes of death in Africa in 2019 are communicable diseases. Africa is the only region in which HIV/AIDS and malaria remain in the top 10.
People living in a low-income country are far more likely to die of a communicable disease than a noncommunicable disease. Despite the global decline, six of the top 10 causes of death in low-income countries are communicable diseases.
Malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS all remain in the top 10. However, all three are falling significantly. The biggest decrease among the top 10 deaths in this group has been for HIV/AIDS, with 59% fewer deaths in 2019 than in 2000, or 161 000 and 395 000 respectively.
Encouragingly, Africa has seen HIV/AIDS deaths fall by more than half, dropping from over 1 million in 2000 to 435 000 in 2019. It is now the region’s 4th leading cause of death. In 2000, the disease was responsible for the greatest number of lives lost in Africa. Deaths from malaria are also falling, with 6.7 million in 2000 compared to 3.9 million in 2019. However, recent WHO reports indicate a slow-down or plateauing of progress against infectious diseases.
Neonatal conditions and lower respiratory infections remained the leading cause of DALYs in 2019 for the region and have now moved up to become the 1st and 2nd leading cause of death. Despite significant decreases in total numbers, diseases such as diarrhoea and malaria remain high contributors to both death and DALYs. In contrast, both deaths and DALYs for tuberculosis have risen by over 7% since 2000.
In terms of injuries, there has been a significant rise in road traffic injuries for the African Region, with a 51% rise in deaths and a 45% rise in DALYs. Deaths and DALYs for diabetes have also increased by 48% and 59%, respectively.