Circulatory diseases caused nearly a third of all deaths in the EU in 2023, with 1.59 million people dying from conditions such as heart disease and high blood pressure.
A total of 4.84 million EU residents died in 2023, with cancer the second-leading cause (1.16 million deaths, or 23.9%) and respiratory diseases third (0.38 million, or 7.8%), Eurostat informed on Friday.
Other major causes included external causes of morbidity and mortality — a statistical category that includes events such as accidents — accounting for 0.24 million deaths (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%), and endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (0.17 million; 3.5%) also featured among the leading causes.
COVID-19 accounted for 0.10 million deaths, or 2.1% of the total.
Death rates vary widely across the EU
Across the EU, there were 313 deaths from circulatory diseases per 100,000 people in 2023, Eurostat said.
The highest death rates from circulatory diseases were recorded in Bulgaria (923 deaths per 100,000 people), Romania (787) and Latvia (726).
France (163), Spain (200) and Denmark (208) recorded the lowest death rates from circulatory diseases.
