Top 10 leading causes of death globally: A look into India’s cases

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted global health, leading to a reversal of over a decade’s worth of progress in life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy (HALE) within just two years.

Specifically, global life expectancy decreased by 1.8 years, dropping to 71.4 years in 2021, while HALE fell by 1.5 years to 61.9 years.

In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 was one of the top three leading causes of death worldwide, resulting in the loss of 4.1 million lives in 2020 and 8.8 million in 2021. (Representational)

As a result, the proportion of deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) decreased to 70.0% in 2020 and 65.3% in 2021.

Nonetheless, at a global level, seven out of the ten leading causes of death in 2021 were non-communicable diseases, which together accounted for 38% of all deaths, or 68% of the top ten causes.

The top 10 leading causes of death globally

The world’s leading cause of death is ischaemic heart disease, which has significantly increased since 2000, accounting for 13% of total deaths.

COVID-19 emerged as a major cause of death, resulting in 8.8 million fatalities in 2021 and contributing to a decline in numbers for other leading causes of death.

Additionally, non-communicable diseases like stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections being the deadliest communicable diseases globally, have also made it to the top ten.

Diabetes also featured, showing a 95% increase since 2000, in addition, kidney diseases have risen from the nineteenth leading cause of death to the ninth, marking a 95% increase between 2000 and 2021.

Source: World Health Organisation

However, it’s noteworthy to mention that diseases that were among the top 10 in 2000 are no longer on the list, such as HIV and AIDS, which have fallen by 61%, and diarrhoeal diseases, which have dropped by 45%.

India’s outlook:

In terms of population, India’s current population stands at 1,438,069,596 as of 2023, with a projected increase of 17% to 1,679,589,259 by 2050, thereby indicating improvement in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth.

According to the WHO, the healthy life expectancy at birth (years) has improved by 5.2 years from 52.9 years in 2000 to 58.1 years in 2021.

Notably, the life expectancy at birth (years) has also improved by 5.2 years, from 62.1 years in 2000 to 67.3 years in 2021.

Here are the top 10 leading causes of death in India in 2021:

COVID-19 leads in the top 10 causes of death in India in 2021, for both sexes; male and female, of all ages. (Source: WHO)

These alarming global trends highlight the urgent need to strengthen health systems, improve the quality of care, and meet the increasing demand for health services worldwide.