Globally, 65% of deaths from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are women. In 2019, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia ranked as the 7th leading cause of death. Trachea, bronchus and lung cancers deaths have risen from 1.2 million to 1.8 million and are now ranked 6th among leading causes of death. However, deaths from neonatal conditions are one of the categories for which the global decrease in deaths in absolute numbers over the past two decades has been the greatest: these conditions killed 2 million newborns and young children in 2019, 1.2 million fewer than in 2000.ĭeaths from noncommunicable diseases are on the rise. However, the number of deaths has gone down substantially: in 2019 it claimed 2.6 million lives, 460 000 fewer than in 2000. Lower respiratory infections remained the world’s most deadly communicable disease, ranked as the 4th leading cause of death. Stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are the 2nd and 3rd leading causes of death, responsible for approximately 11% and 6% of total deaths respectively. Since 2000, the largest increase in deaths has been for this disease, rising by more than 2 million to 8.9 million deaths in 2019. The world’s biggest killer is ischaemic heart disease, responsible for 16% of the world’s total deaths. However, all noncommunicable diseases together accounted for 74% of deaths globally in 2019.

These seven causes accounted for 44% of all deaths or 80% of the top 10. Leading causes of death globallyĪt a global level, 7 of the 10 leading causes of deaths in 2019 were noncommunicable diseases. 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.Ĭauses of death can be grouped into three categories: communicable (infectious and parasitic diseases and maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions), noncommunicable (chronic) and injuries.

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