Deaths from circulatory diseases are falling slightly across the EU, whilst deaths from cancer are gradually rising

Brussels – Quietly, and very slowly, premature deaths from circulatory diseases are falling. Just as quietly and just as slowly, however, deaths from cancer are rising. The state of health in the European Union can be described and summarised entirely here, in the figures released by Eurostat, which reveal long-standing problems and new trends becoming established in the data. Thus, by the end of 2023, veno-arterial disorders remain the leading cause of death, followed by malignant neoplasms, with the former declining and the latter increasing.

 In the EU, the European Statistical Office recorded 1,593,488 deaths from hypertension, atherosclerosis, stroke, and related conditions, which represents a reduction of almost 100,000 fatalities compared to 2022 (1,687,874). However, over the same period, between 2022 and 2023, the number of men and women who died across the European Union from cancer rose by 8,000, reaching 1,160,874 certified deaths. Furthermore, the number of people who died from respiratory problems has risen (+16,807 cases), highlighting the issue of poor air quality in the EU, and the number of deaths linked to musculoskeletal disorders has increased (+1,157). 

Progress in reducing premature deaths linked to circulatory diseases is therefore being offset by the rise of other diseases with increasing mortality rates. Meanwhile, Eurostat continues, circulatory system diseases claim the lives of, on average, 313 Europeans per 100,000 inhabitants, with the highest mortality rates in Bulgaria (923 deaths per 100,000 people), Romania (787), and Latvia (726).