Rank, number of deaths, percentage of deaths, and age-specific mortality rates for the leading causes of death, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

In 2023, the leading causes of death in Canada were malignant neoplasms (cancer) and diseases of the heart. Together, these diseases accounted for around ** percent of all deaths in Canada that year. COVID-19 was the sixth leading cause of death in Canada in 2023 with *** percent of deaths. The leading causes of death in Canada In 2023, around ****** people in Canada died from cancer, making it by far the leading cause of death in the country. In comparison, an estimated ****** people died from diseases of the heart, while ****** died from accidents. In 2023, the death rate for diabetes mellitus was **** per 100,000 population, making it the seventh leading cause of death. Diabetes is a growing problem in Canada, with around ***** percent of the population diagnosed with the disease as of 2023. What is the deadliest form of cancer in Canada? In Canada, lung and bronchus cancer account for the largest share of cancer deaths, followed by colorectal cancer. In 2023, the death rate for lung and bronchus cancer was **** per 100,000 population, compared to **** deaths per 100,000 population for colorectal cancer. However, although lung and bronchus cancer are the deadliest cancers for both men and women in Canada, breast cancer is the second-deadliest cancer among women, accounting for **** percent of all cancer deaths. Colorectal cancer is the second most deadly cancer among men in Canada, followed by prostate cancer. In 2023, colorectal cancer accounted for around **** percent of all cancer deaths among men in Canada, while prostate cancer was responsible for **** percent of such deaths.

Number of deaths and age-specific mortality rates for selected grouped causes, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 210 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until July 13, 2022. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 557.8 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 6.3 million. Note, however, that COVID-19 test rates can vary per country. Additionally, big differences show up between countries when combining the number of deaths against confirmed COVID-19 cases. The source seemingly does not differentiate between "the Wuhan strain" (2019-nCOV) of COVID-19, "the Kent mutation" (B.1.1.7) that appeared in the UK in late 2020, the 2021 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India or the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from South Africa.

The difficulties of death figures

This table aims to provide a complete picture on the topic, but it very much relies on data that has become more difficult to compare. As the coronavirus pandemic developed across the world, countries already used different methods to count fatalities, and they sometimes changed them during the course of the pandemic. On April 16, for example, the Chinese city of Wuhan added a 50 percent increase in their death figures to account for community deaths. These deaths occurred outside of hospitals and went unaccounted for so far. The state of New York did something similar two days before, revising their figures with 3,700 new deaths as they started to include “assumed” coronavirus victims. The United Kingdom started counting deaths in care homes and private households on April 29, adjusting their number with about 5,000 new deaths (which were corrected lowered again by the same amount on August 18). This makes an already difficult comparison even more difficult. Belgium, for example, counts suspected coronavirus deaths in their figures, whereas other countries have not done that (yet). This means two things. First, it could have a big impact on both current as well as future figures. On April 16 already, UK health experts stated that if their numbers were corrected for community deaths like in Wuhan, the UK number would change from 205 to “above 300”. This is exactly what happened two weeks later. Second, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which countries already have “revised” numbers (like Belgium, Wuhan or New York) and which ones do not. One work-around could be to look at (freely accessible) timelines that track the reported daily increase of deaths in certain countries. Several of these are available on our platform, such as for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. A sudden large increase might be an indicator that the domestic sources changed their methodology.

Where are these numbers coming from?

The numbers shown here were collected by Johns Hopkins University, a source that manually checks the data with domestic health authorities. For the majority of countries, this is from national authorities. In some cases, like China, the United States, Canada or Australia, city reports or other various state authorities were consulted. In this statistic, these separately reported numbers were put together. For more information or other freely accessible content, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Number and percentage of deaths, by month and place of residence, 1991 to most recent year.

Footnotes: 1 Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Vital Statistics, Birth, Death and Stillbirth Databases. The table 13-10-0110-01 is an update of table 13-10-0408-01. 2 Infant mortality corresponds to the death of a child under one year of age. Expressed as a rate per 1,000 live births. 3 Perinatal deaths include late fetal deaths (stillbirths with a gestational age of 28 weeks or more) and early neonatal deaths (deaths of infants aged less than one week). 4 Numbers and rates in this table may differ from those found in similar data published by the Vital Statistics program as the data here have been tabulated based on postal codes available for place of residence. 5 2017 data for Yukon are not available. 6 The number of births, stillbirths, and deaths in Ontario for 2016 and 2017 are considered preliminary. 7 Due to improvements in methodology and timeliness, the duration of data collection has been shortened compared to previous years. As a result, there may have been fewer births and stillbirths captured by the time of the release. The 2017 data are therefore considered preliminary. 8 A census metropolitan area (CMA) is an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a census metropolitan area, the urban core must have a population of at least 100,000. The CMAs are those defined for the 2016 Census. To form a census agglomeration, the urban core must have a population of at least 10,000. 9 The metropolitan influenced zone (MIZ) classification is an approach to better differentiate areas of Canada outside of census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations. Census subdivisions that lie outside these areas are classified into one of four zones of influence. They are assigned to categories based on the flow of residents travelling to work in an urban area with a population greater than 10,000. Municipalities where more that 30% of the residents commute to work in an urban core are assigned to the strong MIZ category. Municipalities where between 5% and 30% of the residents commute to work in an urban core are assigned to the moderate MIZ category. Municipalities where between 0% and 5% of the residents commute to work in an urban core are assigned to the weak MIZ category. Municipalities where fewer than 40 or none of the residents commute to work in an urban core are assigned to the zero MIZ category. 10 Geographical areas are modified every 5 years to reflect the most recent census definitions, therefore, data are not strictly comparable historically. 11 Counts and rates in this table are based on three consecutive years of data. 12 The 95% confidence interval (CI) illustrates the degree of variability associated with a rate. 13 Wide confidence intervals (CIs) indicate high variability, thus, these rates should be interpreted and compared with due caution. 14 The following standard symbols are used in this Statistics Canada table: (..) for figures not available for a specific reference period, (...) for figures not applicable and (x) for figures suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act. 15 The figures shown in the tables have been subjected to a confidentiality procedure known as controlled rounding to prevent the possibility of associating statistical data with any identifiable individual. Under this method, all figures, including totals and margins, are rounded either up or down to a multiple of 5. Controlled rounding has the advantage over other types of rounding of producing additive tables as well as offering more protection.

Footnotes: 1 Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Vital Statistics, Birth, Death and Stillbirth Databases. The table 13-10-0110-01 is an update of table 13-10-0408-01. 2 Infant mortality corresponds to the death of a child under one year of age. Expressed as a rate per 1,000 live births. 3 Perinatal deaths include late fetal deaths (stillbirths with a gestational age of 28 weeks or more) and early neonatal deaths (deaths of infants aged less than one week). 4 Numbers and rates in this table may differ from those found in similar data published by the Vital Statistics program as the data here have been tabulated based on postal codes available for place of residence. 5 2017 data for Yukon are not available. 6 The number of births, stillbirths, and deaths in Ontario for 2016 and 2017 are considered preliminary. 7 Due to improvements in methodology and timeliness, the duration of data collection has been shortened compared to previous years. As a result, there may have been fewer births and stillbirths captured by the time of the release. The 2017 data are therefore considered preliminary. 8 A census metropolitan area (CMA) is an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a census metropolitan area, the urban core must have a population of at least 100,000. The CMAs are those defined for the 2016 Census. To form a census agglomeration, the urban core must have a population of at least 10,000. 9 The metropolitan influenced zone (MIZ) classification is an approach to better differentiate areas of Canada outside of census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations. Census subdivisions that lie outside these areas are classified into one of four zones of influence. They are assigned to categories based on the flow of residents travelling to work in an urban area with a population greater than 10,000. Municipalities where more that 30% of the residents commute to work in an urban core are assigned to the strong MIZ category. Municipalities where between 5% and 30% of the residents commute to work in an urban core are assigned to the moderate MIZ category. Municipalities where between 0% and 5% of the residents commute to work in an urban core are assigned to the weak MIZ category. Municipalities where fewer than 40 or none of the residents commute to work in an urban core are assigned to the zero MIZ category. 10 Geographical areas are modified every 5 years to reflect the most recent census definitions, therefore, data are not strictly comparable historically. 11 Counts and rates in this table are based on three consecutive years of data. 12 The 95% confidence interval (CI) illustrates the degree of variability associated with a rate. 13 Wide confidence intervals (CIs) indicate high variability, thus, these rates should be interpreted and compared with due caution. 14 The following standard symbols are used in this Statistics Canada table: (..) for figures not available for a specific reference period, (...) for figures not applicable and (x) for figures suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act. 15 The figures shown in the tables have been subjected to a confidentiality procedure known as controlled rounding to prevent the possibility of associating statistical data with any identifiable individual. Under this method, all figures, including totals and margins, are rounded either up or down to a multiple of 5. Controlled rounding has the advantage over other types of rounding of producing additive tables as well as offering more protection.

The average for 2017 based on 97 countries was 7.4 homicides per 100,000 people. The highest value was in El Salvador: 61.8 homicides per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Japan: 0.2 homicides per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2017. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.