33% of deaths caused by circulatory diseases in 2023

In 2023, there were 4.84 million deaths among EU residents, mostly caused by circulatory diseases (1.59 million; 32.8% of all deaths), cancer (1.16 million; 23.9%) and respiratory diseases (0.38 million; 7.8%).

Other leading causes of death included external causes of morbidity and mortality (0.24 million; 5.0%), diseases of the digestive system (0.21 million; 4.4%), mental and behavioural disorders (0.21 million; 4.3%), diseases of the nervous system (0.21 million; 4.3%), endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (0.17 million; 3.5%) and COVID-19 (0.10 million; 2.1%).

This information comes from data on causes of death published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on causes of death.

Source dataset: hlth_cd_aro

Deaths from circulatory diseases: 313 per 100 000 people

At the EU level, there were 313 deaths from circulatory diseases per 100 000 people in 2023. Diseases of the circulatory system include those related to high blood pressure, heart disease and diseases of the veins and arteries.

The highest death rates from circulatory diseases were recorded in Bulgaria (923 deaths per 100 000 people), Romania (787) and Latvia (726).

In contrast, France (163), Spain (200) and Denmark (208) recorded the lowest death rates from circulatory diseases.

Source dataset: hlth_cd_asdr2