List of causes of death by rate - Wikipedia List of causes of death by rate Main article : Cause of death This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( September 2017 ) The following is a list of the causes of human deaths worldwide for the year 2002, arranged by their associated mortality rates. There were 57,029,000 deaths tabulated for that year. Some causes listed include deaths also included in more specific subordinate causes ( as indicated by the `` Group '' column ), and some causes are omitted, so the percentages do not sum to 100. According to the World Health Organization, about 58 million people died in 2005, using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ( ICD ). According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 52.77 million people died in 2010. Contents 1 By frequency 2 Malnutrition 3 Developed vs. developing economies 3.1 By age group 3.2 By occupation 4 See also 5 References 6 External links By frequency The table below uses data from 2002 and is out of date. Data is now available for 2010. Note : Tinted backgrounds indicate items that also appear in the subsequent table. Percentage figures add to more than 100 % because some deaths appear in both broadly - defined and narrowly defined categories ; for example, Cardiovascular Deaths includes deaths from both Ischaemic Heart Disease and Stroke. Mortality rates ( death rate per year, from data for 2002 ) Group Cause Percent of deaths Deaths per 100,000 Group Subgroup All Male Female -- All causes 100.0 100.0 916.1 954.7 877.1 Cardiovascular diseases 29.34 268.8 259.3 278.4 Infectious and parasitic diseases 23.04 211.3 221.7 200.4 A. 1 Coronary artery disease 12.64 115.8 121.4 110.1 Malignant neoplasms ( cancers ) 12.49 114.4 126.9 101.7 A. 2 Cerebrovascular disease ( Stroke ) 9.66 88.5 85.4 95.6 B. 1 Respiratory infections 6.95 63.7 63.5 63.8 B. 1.1 Lower respiratory tract infections 6.81 62.4 62.2 62.6 Respiratory diseases 6.49 59.5 61.1 57.9 Unintentional injuries 6.23 57.0 73.7 40.2 B. 2 HIV / AIDS 4.87 44.6 46.2 43.0 D. 1 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 4.82 44.1 45.1 43.1 -- Perinatal conditions 4.32 4.32 39.6 43.7 35.4 Digestive diseases 3.45 31.6 34.9 28.2 B. 3 Diarrhea diseases 3.15 28.9 30.0 27.8 Intentional injuries ( Suicide, Violence, War, etc. ) 2.84 26.0 37.0 14.9 B. 4 Tuberculosis 2.75 25.2 32.9 17.3 B. 5 Malaria 2.23 20.4 19.4 21.5 C. 1 Lung cancer 2.18 20.0 28.4 11.4 E. 1 Road traffic accidents 2.09 19.1 40.8 10.4 B. 6 Childhood diseases 1.97 18.1 18.0 18.2 Neuropsychiatric disorders 1.95 17.9 18.4 17.3 -- Diabetes mellitus 1.73 1.73 15.9 14.1 17.7 A. 3 Hypertensive heart disease 1.60 14.6 13.4 15.9 G. 1 Suicide 1.53 14.0 17.4 10.6 C. 2 Stomach cancer 1.49 13.7 16.7 10.5 Diseases of the genitourinary system 1.49 13.6 14.1 13.1 F. 1 Cirrhosis of the liver 1.38 12.6 16.1 9.1 I. 1 Nephritis / nephropathy 1.19 10.9 11.0 10.7 C. 3 Colorectal cancer 1.09 10.0 10.3 9.7 C. 4 Liver cancer 1.08 9.9 13.6 6.2 B. 6.1 Measles 1.07 9.8 9.8 9.9 G. 2 Violence 0.98 9.0 14.2 3.7 -- Maternal conditions 0.89 0.89 8.2 0.0 16.5 -- Congenital abnormalities 0.86 0.86 7.9 8.1 7.7 Nutritional deficiencies 0.85 7.8 6.9 8.7 C. 5 Breast cancer 0.84 7.7 0.1 15.3 C. 6 Esophageal cancer 0.78 7.2 9.1 5.2 A. 4 Inflammatory heart disease 0.71 6.5 6.7 6.2 H. 1 Alzheimer 's disease and other dementias 0.70 6.4 4.7 8.1 E. 2 Falls 0.69 6.3 7.5 5.0 E. 3 Drowning 0.67 6.1 8.4 3.9 E. 4 Poisoning 0.61 5.6 7.2 4.0 C. 7 Lymphomas, multiple myeloma 0.59 5.4 5.4 5.4 A. 5 Rheumatic heart disease 0.57 5.3 4.4 6.1 C. 8 Oral and oropharynx cancers 0.56 5.1 7.1 3.1 E. 5 Fires 0.55 5.0 3.8 6.2 B. 6.2 Pertussis 0.52 4.7 4.7 4.8 C. 9 Prostate cancer 0.47 4.3 8.6 0.0 C. 10 Leukemia 0.46 4.2 4.7 3.8 F. 2 Peptic ulcer disease 0.46 4.2 5.0 3.5 J. 1 Protein - energy malnutrition 0.46 4.2 4.2 4.2 -- Endocrine / nutritional disorders 0.43 0.43 3.9 3.4 4.4 D. 2 Asthma 0.42 3.9 3.9 3.8 C. 11 Cervical cancer 0.42 3.8 0.0 7.7 C. 12 Pancreatic cancer 0.41 3.7 3.9 3.5 B. 6.3 Tetanus 0.38 3.4 3.4 3.5 B. 7 Sexually transmitted diseases excluding HIV / AIDS 0.32 2.9 2.9 2.9 C. 13 Bladder cancer 0.31 2.9 4.0 1.7 B. 8 Meningitis 0.30 2.8 2.9 2.7 G. 3 War 0.30 2.8 5.0 0.5 B. 7.1 Syphilis 0.28 2.5 2.7 2.3 -- Neoplasms other than malignant 0.26 0.26 2.4 2.4 2.4 J. 2 Iron deficiency anemia 0.24 2.2 1.5 2.9 C. 14 Ovarian cancer 0.24 2.2 0.0 4.4 B. 9 Tropical diseases excluding malaria 0.23 2.5 1.6 H. 2 Epilepsy 0.22 2.0 2.2 1.8 -- Musculoskeletal diseases 0.19 0.19 1.7 1.2 2.2 B. 10 Hepatitis B 0.18 1.7 2.3 1.0 H. 3 Parkinson 's disease 0.17 1.6 1.6 1.6 H. 4 Alcohol use disorders 0.16 1.5 2.5 0.4 H. 5 Drug use disorders 0.15 1.4 2.2 0.5 B. 1.2 Upper respiratory infections 0.13 1.2 1.2 1.2 C. 15 Uterine cancer 0.12 1.1 0.0 2.3 -- Skin diseases 0.12 0.12 1.1 0.8 1.4 C. 16 Melanoma and other skin cancers 0.12 1.1 1.1 1.0 B. 11 Hepatitis C 0.09 0.9 1.1 0.6 B. 9.1 Leishmaniasis 0.09 0.8 1.0 0.7 B. 9.2 Trypanosomiasis 0.08 0.8 1.0 0.5 I. 2 Benign prostatic hyperplasia 0.06 0.5 1.0 0.0 Malnutrition Malnutrition can be identified as an underlying cause for shortened life. 70 % of childhood deaths ( age 0 - 4 ) are reportedly due to diarrheal illness, acute respiratory infection, malaria and immunizable disease. However, of these childhood deaths, 56 % can be attributed to the effects of malnutrition as an underlying cause. The effects of malnutrition include increased susceptibility to infection, musculature wasting, skeletal deformities and neurologic development delays. According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition is named as the biggest contributor to child mortality with 36 million deaths in 2005 related to malnutrition. Developed vs. developing economies Top causes of death, according to the World Health Organization report for the calendar year 2001 : Causes of death in developing countries Number of deaths Causes of death in developed countries Number of deaths HIV - AIDS 2,678,000 Ischaemic heart disease 3,512,000 Lower respiratory infections 2,643,000 Cerebrovascular disease 3,346,000 Ischaemic heart disease 2,484,000 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 1,829,000 Diarrhea 1,793,000 Lower respiratory infections 1,180,000 Cerebrovascular disease 1,381,000 Lung cancer 938,000 Childhood diseases 1,217,000 Car crash 669,000 Malaria 1,103,000 Stomach cancer 657,000 Tuberculosis 1,021,000 Hypertensive heart disease 635,000 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 748,000 Tuberculosis 571,000 Measles 674,000 Suicide 499,000 By age group Leading causes of death in the United States by age group. Leading causes of death in the United States, as percentage of deaths in each age group. Perinatal mortality ( < 1yrs of age ) seldom falls in any of these causes. Death by age group as rate compared to the age group with highest rate. By occupation With an average of 123.6 deaths per 100,000 from 2003 through 2010 the most dangerous occupation in the United States is the cell tower construction industry. Number and rate of fatal occupational injuries, by industry sector, 2006 in the United States. Selected occupations with high fatality rates, 2011, in the United States. See also List of countries by death rate List of preventable causes of death Medical error References Jump up ^ WHO ( 2005 ). `` Cancer ''. Jump up ^ Lozano, Rafael ; et al. ( Dec 2012 ). `` Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 '' ( PDF ). Lancet. 380 : 2095 -- 128. PMID 23245604. doi : 10.1016 / S0140 - 6736 ( 12 ) 61728 - 0. Jump up ^ Lozano, Rafael ; et al. ( Dec 2012 ). `` Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 '' ( PDF ). Lancet. 380 : 2095 -- 128. PMID 23245604. doi : 10.1016 / S0140 - 6736 ( 12 ) 61728 - 0. See also this CDC report from the US. Jump up ^ World Health Organization ( 2004 ). `` Annex Table 2 : Deaths by cause, sex and mortality stratum in WHO regions, estimates for 2002 '' ( PDF ). The world health report 2004 - changing history. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 01. Jump up ^ Group is a value showing the relationship of groups of causes ; for instance, statistics for `` A '' ( cardiovascular diseases ) include those for `` A. 1 '' ( ischemic heart disease ), `` A. 2 '' ( cerebrovascular disease ), and so on. If no value is shown for a cause, there are no other causes grouped with that cause. Jump up ^ `` Mortality In Second And Third Degree Malnutrition ''. Tropej.oxfordjournals.org. 2014 - 06 - 03. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 09. Jump up ^ Pelletier DL, Frongillo EA, Schroeder DG, Habicht JP ( 2014 - 01 - 24 ). `` The effects of malnutrition on child mortality in developing countries ''. Bull. World Health Organ. 73 : 443 -- 8. PMC 2486780. PMID 7554015. Jump up ^ `` Some effects of malnutrition on the immune response in man ''. Ajcn.nutrition.org. 1974 - 06 - 01. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 09. Jump up ^ `` Elsevier ''. Pediatric.theclinics.com. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 09. Jump up ^ Stay informed today ; every day ( 2008 - 01 - 24 ). `` Malnutrition : The starvelings ''. The Economist. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 09. Jump up ^ Ziegler, Jean ( 2007 ). L'Empire de la honte. Fayard Jump up ^ `` Cause of Death ''. UC Atlas of Global Inequality. University of California, Santa Cruz. 18 February 2004. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 09. ^ Jump up to : `` National Vital Statistics Report '' ( PDF ). National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 50, No. 15. September 16, 2002. Jump up ^ Day, Ryan Knutson, Liz ( 21 May 2012 ). `` Methodology : How We Calculated the Tower Industry Death Rate ''. ^ Jump up to : `` Bureau of Labor Statistics ; NATIONAL CENSUS OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN 2006 '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 09. 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Question: what is the number one cause of death in humans
Answer: Cardiovascular diseases