The top 10 causes of death in the world.
These diseases have become leading causes of death globally in the last 15 years.
- Ischaemic heart disease and stroke are the world’s biggest killers, accounting for a combined 15.2 million deaths in 2016.
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claimed 3.0 million lives in 2016.
- lung cancer (along with trachea and bronchus cancers) caused 1.7 million deaths.
- Diabetes killed 1.6 million people in 2016, up from less than 1 million in 2000.
- Deaths due to dementias more than doubled between 2000 and 2016, making it the 5th leading cause of global deaths in 2016 compared to 14th in 2000.
- Lower respiratory infections remained the most deadly communicable disease, causing 3.0 million deaths worldwide in 2016
- The death rate from diarrhoeal diseases decreased by almost 1 million between 2000 and 2016, but still caused 1.4 million deaths in 2016.
- Tuberculosis deaths decreased during the same period, but is still among the top 10 causes with a death toll of 1.3 million
- HIV/AIDS is no longer among the world’s top 10 causes of death, having killed 1.0 million people in 2016 compared with 1.5 million in 2000.
- Road injuries killed 1.4 million people in 2016, about three-quarters (74%) of whom were men and boys.
Leading causes of death by economy income group.
More than half of all deaths in low-income countries in 2016 were caused by the so-called “Group I” conditions, which include communicable diseases, maternal causes, conditions arising during pregnancy and childbirth, and nutritional deficiencies. By contrast, less than 7% of deaths in high-income countries were due to such causes. Lower respiratory infections were among the leading causes of death across all income groups.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) caused 71% of deaths globally, ranging from 37% in low-income countries to 88% in high-income countries. All but one of the 10 leading causes of death in high-income countries were NCDs. In terms of absolute number of deaths, however, 78% of global NCD deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
Injuries claimed 4.9 million lives in 2016. More than a quarter (29%) of these deaths were due to road traffic injuries. Low-income countries had the highest mortality rate due to road traffic injuries with 29.4 deaths per 100 000 population – the global rate was 18.8. Road traffic injuries were also among the leading 10 causes of death in low, lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries.
Source: Global Health Estimates 2016: Deaths by Cause, Age, Sex, by Country and by Region, 2000-2016. Geneva, World Health Organization; 2018.
