Top ten causes of death in Africa in 2019

In 2019, the leading causes of death in Africa were neonatal conditions, lower respiratory infections, and diarrhoeal diseases. That year, neonatal conditions resulted in around 880 deaths per 100,000 population in Africa.

Leading causes of death in Africa vs the world

Worldwide, the top three leading causes of death are heart disease, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Some of the leading causes of death in Africa, such as neonatal conditions and diarrhoeal diseases, are among the leading causes worldwide, but there are also stark differences in the leading causes of death in Africa compared to the leading causes worldwide. For example, malaria, tuberculosis, and road injury are among the top ten leading causes of death in Africa, but not worldwide. Furthermore, HIV/AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death in Africa but is not even among the top ten leading causes worldwide.

HIV/AIDS in Africa

Although HIV/AIDS impacts every region of the world, Africa is still the region most impacted by this deadly virus. Worldwide there are around 37.7 million people currently living with HIV, with about 20.6 million found in Eastern and Southern Africa and 4.7 million in Western and Central Africa. The countries with the highest HIV prevalence worldwide include Eswatini, Lesotho, and Botswana , with the leading 20 countries by HIV prevalence all found in Africa. However, due in part to improvements in education and awareness the prevalence of HIV in many African countries has decreased. For example, in Botswana, the prevalence of HIV decreased from 26.3 percent to 19.9 percent in the period from 2000 to 2020.