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The following is a list of the causes of human deaths worldwide for the year 2002, arranged by their associated mortality rates. There were 57,029,000 deaths tabulated for that year. Some causes listed include deaths also included in more specific subordinate causes (as indicated by the "Group" column), and some causes are omitted, so the percentages do not sum to 100. According to the World Health Organization, about 58 million people died in 2005.[1]

Causes ranked by frequency[]

Note: tinted backgrounds indicate items that also appear in subsequent table.

Deaths per 100,000 per year[2]
Group[3] Cause  Percent 
of
deaths
All Male Female
All Causes 100.00 916.1 954.7 877.1
A Cardiovascular diseases 29.34 268.8 259.3 278.4
B Infectious and parasitic diseases 23.04 211.3 221.7 200.4
A.1 Ischemic heart disease 12.64 115.8 121.4 110.1
C Malignant neoplasms (cancers) 12.49 114.4 126.9 101.7
A.2 Cerebrovascular disease (Stroke) 9.66 88.5 81.4 95.6
B.1 Respiratory infections 6.95 63.7 63.5 63.8
B.1.1 Lower respiratory tract infections 6.81 62.4 62.2 62.6
D Respiratory diseases 6.49 59.5 61.1 57.9
E Unintentional injuries 6.23 57.0 73.7 40.2
B.2 HIV/AIDS 4.87 44.6 46.2 43.0
D.1 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 4.82 44.1 45.1 43.1
Perinatal conditions 4.32 39.6 43.7 35.4
F Digestive diseases 3.45 31.6 34.9 28.2
B.3 Diarrhea diseases 3.15 28.9 30.0 27.8
G Intentional injuries (Suicide, Violence, War, etc.) 2.84 26.0 37.0 14.9
B.4 Tuberculosis 2.75 25.2 32.9 17.3
B.5 Malaria 2.23 20.4 19.4 21.5
C.1 Lung cancers 2.18 20.0 28.4 11.4
E.1 Road traffic accidents 2.09 19.1 27.8 10.4
B.6 Childhood diseases 1.97 18.1 18.0 18.2
H Neuropsychiatric disorders 1.95 17.9 18.4 17.3
Diabetes mellitus 1.73 15.9 14.1 17.7
A.3 Hypertensive heart disease 1.60 14.6 13.4 15.9
G.1 Suicide 1.53 14.0 17.4 10.6
C.2 Stomach cancer 1.49 13.7 16.7 10.5
I Diseases of the genitourinary system 1.49 13.6 14.1 13.1
F.1 Cirrhosis of the liver 1.38 12.6 16.1 9.1
I.1 Nephritis/nephropathy 1.19 10.9 11.0 10.7
C.3 Colorectal cancer 1.09 10.0 10.3 9.7
C.4 Liver cancer 1.08 9.9 13.6 6.2
B.6.1 Measles 1.07 9.8 9.8 9.9
G.2 Violence 0.98 9.0 14.2 3.7
Maternal conditions 0.89 8.2 0.0 16.5
Congenital abnormalities 0.86 7.9 8.1 7.7
J Nutritional deficiencies 0.85 7.8 6.9 8.7
C.5 Breast cancer 0.84 7.7 0.1 15.3
C.6 Esophageal cancer 0.78 7.2 9.1 5.2
A.4 Inflammatory heart disease 0.71 6.5 6.7 6.2
H.1 Alzheimer's disease and other dementias 0.70 6.4 4.7 8.1
E.2 Falls 0.69 6.3 7.5 5.0
E.3 Drowning 0.67 6.1 8.4 3.9
E.4 Poisoning 0.61 5.6 7.2 4.0
C.7 Lymphomas, multiple myeloma 0.59 5.4 5.4 5.4
A.5 Rheumatic heart disease 0.57 5.3 4.4 6.1
C.8 Oral and oropharynx cancers 0.56 5.1 7.1 3.1
E.5 Fires 0.55 5.0 3.8 6.2
B.6.2 Pertussis 0.52 4.7 4.7 4.8
C.9 Prostate cancer 0.47 4.3 8.6 0.0
C.10 Leukemia 0.46 4.2 4.7 3.8
F.2 Peptic ulcer disease 0.46 4.2 5.0 3.5
J.1 Protein-energy malnutrition 0.46 4.2 4.2 4.2
Endocrine/nutritional disorders 0.43 3.9 3.4 4.4
D.2 Asthma 0.42 3.9 3.9 3.8
C.11 Cervical cancer 0.42 3.8 0.0 7.7
C.12 Pancreatic cancer 0.41 3.7 3.9 3.5
B.6.3 Tetanus 0.38 3.4 3.4 3.5
B.7 Sexually transmitted diseases excluding HIV/AIDS 0.32 2.9 2.9 2.9
C.13 Bladder cancer 0.31 2.9 4.0 1.7
B.8 Meningitis 0.30 2.8 2.9 2.7
G.3 War 0.30 2.8 5.0 0.5
B.7.1 Syphilis 0.28 2.5 2.7 2.3
Neoplasms other than malignant 0.26 2.4 2.4 2.4
J.2 Iron deficiency anemia 0.24 2.2 1.5 2.9
C.14 Ovarian cancer 0.24 2.2 0.0 4.4
B.9 Tropical diseases excluding malaria 0.23 2.1 2.5 1.6
H.2 Epilepsy 0.22 2.0 2.2 1.8
Musculoskeletal diseases 0.19 1.7 1.2 2.2
B.10 Hepatitis B 0.18 1.7 2.3 1.0
H.3 Parkinson's disease 0.17 1.6 1.6 1.6
H.4 Alcohol use disorders 0.16 1.5 2.5 0.4
H.5 Drug use disorders 0.15 1.4 2.2 0.5
B.1.2 Upper respiratory infections 0.13 1.2 1.2 1.2
C.15 Uterine cancer 0.12 1.1 0.0 2.3
Skin diseases 0.12 1.1 0.8 1.4
C.16 Melanoma and other skin cancers 0.12 1.1 1.1 1.0
B.11 Hepatitis C 0.09 0.9 1.1 0.6
B.9.1 Leishmaniasis 0.09 0.8 1.0 0.7
B.9.2 Trypanosomiasis 0.08 0.8 1.0 0.5
I.2 Benign prostatic hyperplasia 0.06 0.5 1.0 0.0

Malnutrition as an underlying cause[]

The neutrality of this section is disputed.

Hunger and poor nutrition, directly or as an underlying cause for the fatal diseases listed above, causes 36 million deaths per year accounting for more than 1 death each second on average.[4][5][6][verification needed] Statistically, a child under five dies every 5 seconds on average as a direct or indirect result of poor nutrition.[7] This is 6 million children per year, more than half of all child deaths.[8][9][10][11][verification needed]

Developed vs. developing economies[]

Top causes of death, according to the World Health Organization report for the calendar year 2001:[12]

Causes of death in undeveloped countries Number of deaths Causes of death in developed countries Number of deaths
HIV-AIDS 2,678,000 Ischaemic heart disease 3,512,000
Lower respiratory infections 2,643,000 Cerebrovascular disease 3,346,000
Ischaemic heart disease 2,484,000 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 1,829,000
Diarrhea 1,793,000 Lower respiratory infections 1,180,000
Cerebrovascular disease 1,381,000 Lung cancer 938,000
Childhood diseases 1,217,000 Car accident 669,000
Malaria 1,103,000 Stomach cancer 657,000
Tuberculosis 1,021,000 Hypertensive heart disease 635,000
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 748,000 Tuberculosis 571,000
Measles 674,000 Suicide 499,000

United States[]

Further information: List of preventable causes of death#Leading causes in the United States

By age group[]

File:Causes of death by age group.png

Leading causes of death in the United States by age group.[13]

File:Causes of death by age group (percent).png

Leading causes of death in the United States, as percentage of deaths in each age group.[13] Perinatal mortality (<1yrs of age) seldom falls in any of these causes.

File:Deaths by age group.png

Death by age group as rate compared to the age group with highest rate.[13]

By occupation[]

File:Number and rate of fatal occupational injuries.png

Number and rate of fatal occupational injuries, by industry sector, 2006 in the United States.[14]

File:Selected occupations with high fatality rate.png

Selected occupations with high fatality rates, 2006, in the United States.[14]

References[]

  1. WHO (2005). Cancer.
  2. World Health Organization (2004). Annex Table 2: Deaths by cause, sex and mortality stratum in WHO regions, estimates for 2002. (pdf) The world health report 2004 - changing history. URL accessed on 2008-11-01.
  3. Group is a value showing the relationship of groups of causes; for instance, statistics for "A" (cardiovascular diseases) include those for "A.1" (ischemic heart disease), "A.2" (cerebrovascular disease), and so on. If no value is shown for a cause, there are no other causes grouped with that cause.
  4. Jean Ziegler "The Right to Food: Report by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Mr. Jean Ziegler, Submitted in Accordance with Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2000/10". United Nations, February 7, 2001, p. 5. "On average, 62 million people die each year, of whom probably 36 million (58 per cent) directly or indirectly as a result of nutritional deficiencies, infections, epidemics or diseases which attack the body when its resistance and immunity have been weakened by undernourishment and hunger.".
  5. Commission on Human Rights. "The right to food : Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/25". Office Of The High Commissioner For Human Rights, United Nations, April 22, 2002, p. 2. "every year 36 million people die, directly or indirectly, as a result of hunger and nutritional deficiencies, most of them women and children, particularly in developing countries, in a world that already produces enough food to feed the whole global population".
  6. United Nations Information Service. "Independent Expert On Effects Of Structural Adjustment, Special Rapporteur On Right To Food Present Reports: Commission Continues General Debate On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights". United Nations, March 29, 2004, p. 6. "Around 36 million people died from hunger directly or indirectly every year.".
  7. Food and Agriculture Organization Staff. "The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2002: Food Insecurity : when People Live with Hunger and Fear Starvation". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2002, p. 6. "6 million children under the age of five, die each year as a result of hunger."
  8. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Economic and Social Dept. "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004: Monitoring Progress Towards the World Food Summit and Millennium Development Goals". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2004, p. 8. "Undernourishment and deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals cost more than 5 million children their lives every year".
  9. Jacques Diouf. "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004: Monitoring Progress Towards the World Food Summit and Millennium Development Goals". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2004, p. 4. "one child dies every five seconds as a result of hunger and malnutrition".
  10. Food and Agriculture Organization, Economic and Social Dept. "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005: Eradicating World Hunger - Key to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2005, p. 18. "Hunger and malnutrition are the underlying cause of more than half of all child deaths, killing nearly 6 million children each year – a figure that is roughly equivalent to the entire preschool population of Japan. Relatively few of these children die of starvation. The vast majority are killed by neonatal disorders and a handful of treatable infectious diseases, including diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria and measles. Most would not die if their bodies and immune systems had not been weakened by hunger and malnutrition moderately to severely underweight, the risk of death is five to eight times higher.".
  11. Human Rights Council. "Resolution 7/14. The right to food". United Nations, March 27, 2008, p. 3. "6 million children still die every year from hunger-related illness before their fifth birthday".
  12. http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/cause.php
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 50, No. 15, September 16, 2002 as compiled at [1]
  14. 14.0 14.1 Bureau of Labor Statistics; NATIONAL CENSUS OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN 2006

See also[]


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