Causes of death statistics

Data extracted in February 2026

Planned article update: March 2027

Highlights

Circulatory diseases accounted for close to one third (32.8%) of all deaths in the EU in 2023. The second most common cause of death was cancer (23.9%).

In 2023, ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death among men and women aged 65 and over in the EU, as well as among younger men; among younger women, the leading cause was breast cancer.

Between 2013 and 2023, the standardised death rate from heart attacks decreased by 35.3%.

Standardised death rate for deaths from circulatory diseases, cancer and respiratory diseases, 2023

This article uses the most recent available statistics on causes of death in the European Union (EU). It is important to identify and record the underlying reasons for deaths and make the information available to policymakers, health services and the public. With these data, it is possible to describe and understand the frequency of deaths from each cause as well as trends in mortality.

The data also serve to give information on changing epidemiological circumstances. Most causes of death vary significantly by age and by sex. This article gives an overview of the main causes of death and standardised death rates for the EU as a whole and for EU countries with analyses by age and sex of the deceased. The use of standardised death rates facilitates comparisons both over time and between countries, independent of population age structures.

This article is one of a set of statistical articles concerning health status in the EU which forms part of the online publication Health in the European Union – facts and figures.

Major causes of death in the EU in 2023

In total, 4.84 million deaths of EU residents were reported across the EU in 2023. Around 85.0% of all deaths in the EU occurred among people aged 65 years and over.

In 2023, the leading causes of death were diseases of the circulatory system which accounted for 32.8% of the total deaths of EU residents, and cancer (malignant neoplasms) which accounted for 23.9% of all deaths – see Figure 1. The third and fourth most frequent causes of death were respiratory diseases ^[1] and external causes of death, which accounted for 7.8% and 5.0%, respectively, of the total. Note that the category of symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified accounted for 4.9% of deaths but is not shown in Figure 1 in order to focus on more specific causes.

Diseases of the circulatory system include those related to high blood pressure, heart disease and diseases of veins and arteries. The most common causes of death from diseases of the circulatory system are ischaemic heart disease (including, among other diseases, heart attacks) and cerebrovascular diseases (such as strokes) which, respectively, accounted for 32.0% and 20.5% of deaths from circulatory diseases in the EU in 2023 – see Figure 2.

The most common causes of death from cancer in the EU in 2023 were malignant neoplasms of the trachea, bronchus and lung (hereafter referred to as lung cancer), which accounted for 19.8% of all deaths from cancer, and malignant neoplasm of the colon, rectosigmoid junction, rectum, anus and anal canal (hereafter referred to as colorectal cancer), which accounted for 11.4%. These were followed by pancreatic, breast and prostate cancer, which accounted for 7.6%, 7.3% and 5.9%, respectively, of all deaths from cancers. Breast cancer occurs mainly in women and prostate cancer exclusively in men (see the information below on the ‘Classification of the causes of death’ for more information). Ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer top the list of avoidable deaths in the EU; see the related article on preventable and treatable mortality statistics.

Standardised death rate by sex and age

The most common causes of death in the EU differ between men and women. With the exception of dementia and breast cancer, standardised death rates were generally higher for men than for women in 2023 for all of the main causes of death. Dementia accounted for 34.5 deaths per 100 000 female residents compared with 32.3 deaths per 100 000 male residents. Breast cancer accounted for 29.8 deaths per 100 000 female residents while the figure for males was considerably lower (0.5 deaths per 100 000 male residents). Differences between women and men in relation to the leading causes of death are also age related (briefly described below, for more information see causes of death statistics by age group).

Males aged less than 65 years

In 2023, the main cause of death of male residents in the EU aged less than 65 years was ischaemic heart disease, with 25.0 deaths per 100 000 male residents aged less than 65 years (see Table 1). This was followed by accidents (20.4 deaths per 100 000 male residents aged less than 65 years), lung cancer (17.3 deaths per 100 000), intentional self-harm (13.6 deaths per 100 000), chronic liver disease (13.0 deaths per 100 000) and cerebrovascular diseases (9.6 deaths per 100 000).

Females aged less than 65 years

Among female residents of the EU aged less than 65 years, the main cause of death in 2023 was breast cancer with 11.6 deaths per 100 000 female residents (see Table 1). This was followed by lung cancer (9.7 deaths per 100 000 female residents aged less than 65 years) and ischaemic heart disease (5.6 deaths per 100 000). The other leading causes of death among females in this age group were accidents (5.0 deaths per 100 000 female residents aged less than 65 years), colorectal cancer (4.9 deaths per 100 000) and cerebrovascular diseases (4.8 deaths per 100 000).

Men aged 65 years and over

As was the case for younger men, ischaemic heart disease was the main cause of death in 2023 among male residents of the EU aged 65 years and over, with 605.5 deaths per 100 000 older male residents (see Table 1). This cause of death was followed by cerebrovascular diseases (328.1 deaths per 100 000 male residents aged 65 years and over) and lung cancer (275.4 deaths per 100 000); relatively similar rates were observed for chronic lower respiratory diseases (such as asthma; 179.3 deaths per 100 000), prostate cancer (168.9 deaths per 100 000) and dementia (164.6 deaths per 100 000).

Women aged 65 years and over

Similarly, ischaemic heart disease was also the main cause of death in 2023 among female EU residents aged 65 years and over, with 347.0 deaths per 100 000 older female residents (see Table 1). Cerebrovascular diseases and dementia were the second and third leading causes of death, with, respectively, 274.2 and 176.2 deaths per 100 000 older female residents; quite similar rates were observed for lung cancer (116.4 deaths per 100 000), breast cancer (104.9 deaths per 100 000) and accidents (101.6 deaths per 100 000).

Developments from 2013 to 2023

Between 2013 and 2023, there were declines in the standardised death rates of several leading causes of death in the EU: circulatory diseases decreased by 23.2%, cancer was down 11.1% and respiratory diseases declined by 1.3%.

Among circulatory diseases, deaths from ischaemic heart diseases dropped by 25.6%, of which heart attacks declined by 35.3%, while deaths from cerebrovascular diseases decreased by 31.1% – see Figure 3.

Among the different types of cancer, the death rate of colorectal cancer declined by 16.4% in the EU between 2013 and 2023 and the rate of lung cancer also decreased, down 13.4%. By contrast, the death rate of pancreatic cancer increased 4.7%. Note that more information about certain types of cancers – including prostate and breast cancer, which are exclusively or significantly sex specific – is available from an article on specific cancers.

For respiratory diseases, there was a decline in the standardised death rate for chronic lower respiratory diseases (down 12.8%) and an increase for pneumonia (up 6.0%).

The standardised death rate of transport accidents fell by 22.6% in the EU between 2013 and 2023, while the rate for intentional self-harm fell by 15.3%.

Potential years of life lost in the EU in 2023

Over the course of 2023, a total of 4 717 potential years of life were lost per 100 000 residents through the deaths of EU residents aged less than 75 years. This rate is calculated by summing the number of years between the age at death and 75 years for each premature death and then expressing this total relative to the size of the age-standardised population. In 2023, 1.56 million EU residents died before the age of 75 years, equivalent to 32.1% of all deaths.

The causes of death with the highest rates of potential years of life lost in the EU in 2023 were cancer (1 417 years per 100 000 residents), diseases of the circulatory system (877 years per 100 000 residents) and external causes of death (699 years per 100 000 residents). Together, these 3 leading causes of death accounted for 63.5% of all potential years of life lost.

Source data for tables and graphs

Causes of death: tables and figures

Data sources

Statistics on the underlying causes of death provide information on mortality patterns. This source is documented in more detail in this background article in causes of death statistics - methodology, which provides information on the scope of the data, its legal basis, the methodology employed, as well as related concepts and definitions.

Legal basis for the data collection

Since the 2011 reference year, reporting countries have submitted data to Eurostat based on the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, and Regulation (EU) No 328/2011 on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, as regards statistics on causes of death. For data before the 2011 reference year, countries submitted data to Eurostat based on a gentleman’s agreement established within the context of Eurostat’s Working Group on Public Health Statistics.

Classification of the causes of death

Statistics on the causes of death are based on the medical information provided in the death certificate. Causes of death are classified by the 86 causes in the European shortlist which is based on the 2019 update of the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD).

When the outbreak of COVID-19 started, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced emergency codes in ICD-10 that countries could use to report deaths from COVID-19. In Eurostat’s dissemination database, the codes are available as follows.

U071 – COVID-19, virus identified (deaths where COVID-19 has been confirmed by laboratory testing)
U072 – COVID-19, virus not identified (COVID-19, virus not identified)
U_COV19_OTH – COVID-19 other (COVID-19 death not elsewhere defined)

The data for COVID-19 reported in this article were calculated by adding the data for these 3 codes, however the data disseminated in Eurostat’s dissemination database are for each separate code. More information about ICD-10 codes can be found on the ICD website.

Standardised death rate

The number of deaths from a particular cause of death can be expressed relative to the size of the population. A standardised death rate is adjusted to a standard age distribution. This facilitates comparisons of rates over time and between countries. The European standard population used for the standardisation of crude rates is based on the European Standard Population (ESP) in use since summer 2013.

Potential years of lost life

The number of potential years of life lost is an indicator estimating the potential years lost due to premature death; in this article a death before the age of 75 years is considered as premature. This measure is calculated by summing the number of years between the age at death and 75 years for each premature death. The rate is expressed per 100 000 people under 75 years of age in the age-standardised population. Eurostat also publishes data for potential years of life lost for people under 70 years of age.

Context

Statistics on causes of death are among the oldest medical statistics available. They provide information on developments over time and differences in causes of death between countries. These statistics play a key role in the general information system relating to the state of health in the EU. They may be used to determine which preventive and medical-curative measures or which investment in research might increase the life expectancy of the population.

There is a general lack of comprehensive European morbidity statistics. Therefore, data on causes of death are often used as a tool for evaluating health systems in the EU and policymakers may use them for evidence-based health policy. The EU promotes a comprehensive approach to tackling major and chronic diseases, through integrated action on risk factors across sectors, combined with efforts to strengthen health systems by improving prevention and control.

Footnotes

Data on respiratory diseases do not include data for COVID-19. ↑

Explore further

Database

Health (hlth)

Causes of death (hlth_cdeath)

Thematic section

Methodology

Causes of death (SIMS metadata file – hlth_cdeath_sims)
Causes of death statistics manual – 2025 edition
Revision of the European Standard Population – Report of Eurostat’s task force – 2013 edition

External links

[1] Data on respiratory diseases do not include data for COVID-19. ↑

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