A nurse sitting on the floor

In 2021 there were 5.3 million deaths in the EU; the main causes of death across the EU were circulatory diseases, cancer and COVID-19.

Deaths related to circulatory diseases amounted to 1.71 million in 2021 (32% of all deaths). Cancer was the second most common cause, with 1.14 million causes of death (22%). COVID-19 was third with 0.57 million (11%). Together these 3 diseases made up 65% of the causes of all deaths in 2021. 

Other leading causes of death were respiratory diseases (0.32 million; 6%), external causes of morbidity and mortality (0.23 million; 4%), diseases of the digestive system (0.21 million; 4%), mental and behavioural disorders (0.19 million; 4%) and endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (0.17 million; 3%). 
 

Causes of death in the EU, 2021. Bar chart. For more information click dataset below.

Source dataset: hlth_cd_aro

COVID-19 standardised death rate at 115.5 per 100 000 people in 2021

The EU’s standardised death rate for COVID-19 was 115.5 deaths per 100 000 people in 2021. 
 


Source dataset: hlth_cd_asdr2

The 3 regions in the EU with the highest standardised death rate were all in Bulgaria, with Yugozapaden (390.68), Severen Tsentralen (387.33) and Severoiztochen (366.75).

Meanwhile, the 3 regions with the lowest standardised death rates were Pohjois-ja Itä-Suomi (8.86) and Länsi-Suomi (10.07) in Finland and Syddanmark (12.89) in Denmark.

For more information

Methodological notes

  • Causes of death are classified according to the European shortlist (86 causes), which is based on the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10)
  • When the outbreak of COVID-19 started, the WHO introduced emergency codes in the ICD version 10 (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 three codes, however the data disseminated in Eurostat’s dissemination database are for each separate code. 

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