What are the leading causes of death worldwide?
The global death rate has steadily decreased over the past decade but increased in the years 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the global death rate was 7.47 per 1,000 population, while in 2021 it reached a rate of 8.72. In 2019, the leading causes of death worldwide were ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the leading causes of death among individual countries can be vastly different. For example, wealthier, more developed countries are more likely to report chronic diseases such as ischemic heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes among their leading causes of death while low-income countries are more impacted by infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDs, and diarrheal diseases. Interestingly, a global survey from 2019 found that people tend to overestimate the proportion of global deaths caused by things like interpersonal violence, substance abuse, and suicide, and greatly underestimate the share of deaths caused by heart disease and cancer.Major health risks
Lifestyle choices that impact health and increase the risk of disease are seen around the world. Such lifestyle risk factors include smoking, drinking alcohol, being overweight or obese, and practicing unsafe sex. Although smoking rates have decreased in many countries, millions of people around the world still smoke tobacco daily. In 2019 alone, it was estimated that smoking contributed to two million deaths from ischemic heart disease and 1.1 million deaths from stroke worldwide. Alcohol is estimated to contribute to around three million deaths per year, or 5.3 percent of all deaths worldwide. Obesity was once considered a problem of wealthy, developed countries, but is increasingly becoming a problem in developing countries as well. It was estimated in 2019 that around 13 percent of deaths in the United States could be attributed to obesity, with this share reaching just over 22 percent in Bahrain.Which countries spend the most on health?
According to the most recent figures, the United States spends the highest percentage of its GDP on health among OECD countries. Health spending per capita in the U.S. amounted to around 12,318 U.S. dollars in 2021, compared to 7,383 dollars in Germany and 5,905 dollars in Canada. However, the country with the highest domestic governmental health expenditure is Costa Rica, followed by Palau, and then the United States. The countries with the lowest governmental health expenditure are South Sudan, Eritrea, and Guinea-Bissau.
