(Number of Deaths per 100000 Population)
Classification of diseases and causes of death is based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) 10th Revision from 2001 onwards. The disease groups for the purpose of ranking causes of death have also been redefined based on the ICD 10th Revision, and new disease groups have been added. Figures from 2001 onwards may not be comparable with figures for previous years which were compiled based on the ICD 9th Revision. Therefore, figures before 2001 have been put down in a separate table.
Death rates by leading causes of death (based on ICD 10th Revision) : 2001 - 2023
List of ranking is based on the number of deaths in 2023.
| Cause of Death | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Malignant neoplasms (ICD10: C00-C97) | 169.9 | 172.9 | 171.0 | 173.8 | 180.7 | 176.4 | 178.1 | 179.0 | 184.1 | 186.2 | 187.2 | 186.5 | 189.3 | 190.9 | 196.3 | 193.7 | 194.2 | 195.8 | 198.1 | 197.9 | 203.8 | 200.3 | 197.3 |
| 2. Pneumonia (ICD10: J12-J18) | 45.1 | 47.4 | 57.6 | 54.2 | 63.0 | 61.3 | 72.0 | 78.8 | 76.2 | 82.8 | 87.8 | 97.3 | 95.1 | 103.8 | 109.8 | 113.0 | 108.6 | 113.2 | 123.5 | 125.2 | 132.6 | 142.9 | 150.4 |
| 3. Diseases of heart (ICD10: I00-I09, I11, I13, I20-I51) | 70.0 | 73.7 | 78.9 | 86.5 | 86.1 | 81.9 | 92.1 | 97.4 | 92.0 | 94.5 | 89.6 | 87.9 | 81.3 | 88.6 | 84.9 | 84.5 | 83.0 | 81.7 | 81.2 | 87.7 | 89.0 | 92.4 | 96.3 |
| 4. Cerebrovascular diseases (ICD10: I60-I69) | 46.6 | 47.7 | 51.4 | 50.4 | 50.4 | 48.2 | 50.8 | 53.0 | 49.4 | 48.7 | 47.2 | 45.8 | 45.3 | 46.1 | 44.7 | 43.9 | 42.3 | 40.5 | 39.6 | 42.3 | 42.2 | 41.6 | 40.4 |
| 5. Coronavirus disease 2019* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 126.5 | 34.4 |
| 6. External causes of morbidity and mortality† (ICD10: V01-Y89) | 27.5 | 30.7 | 30.4 | 33.1 | 31.6 | 28.6 | 26.8 | 25.4 | 27.8 | 26.5 | 22.2 | 23.1 | 25.9 | 25.4 | 27.3 | 24.7 | 23.0 | 25.1 | 24.6 | 27.1 | 26.7 | 26.7 | 31.5 |
| 7. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis (ICD10: N00-N07, N17-N19, N25-N27) | 15.7 | 15.6 | 17.6 | 17.4 | 18.5 | 18.8 | 19.5 | 20.4 | 20.8 | 21.3 | 21.8 | 22.8 | 22.1 | 23.3 | 22.7 | 23.3 | 22.4 | 21.8 | 22.2 | 23.0 | 24.0 | 24.6 | 23.3 |
| 8. Dementia (ICD10: F01-F03) | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 7.1 | 9.1 | 10.9 | 10.6 | 12.6 | 13.9 | 15.4 | 15.7 | 18.7 | 19.7 | 19.5 | 19.8 | 19.8 | 20.2 | 21.4 | 20.4 |
| 9. Septicaemia (ICD10: A40-A41) | 6.3 | 6.9 | 8.5 | 9.1 | 10.3 | 9.9 | 10.7 | 11.5 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 10.8 | 11.7 | 11.9 | 12.2 | 12.2 | 13.2 | 13.1 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 16.8 | 16.5 | 17.6 |
| 10. Chronic lower respiratory diseases (ICD10: J40-J47) | 31.5 | 30.8 | 31.2 | 31.3 | 33.2 | 28.1 | 30.3 | 30.2 | 27.4 | 29.8 | 27.8 | 27.7 | 24.3 | 24.1 | 22.8 | 22.3 | 20.4 | 18.5 | 18.3 | 15.5 | 14.3 | 15.3 | 16.8 |
| 11. Diabetes mellitus (ICD10: E10-E14) | 10.1 | 8.5 | 11.6 | 10.7 | 8.8 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 6.5 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 9.0 | 7.6 |
| All other causes | 69.7 | 70.4 | 79.1 | 79.7 | 81.0 | 81.0 | 85.7 | 86.1 | 84.3 | 88.1 | 85.0 | 89.7 | 90.4 | 97.1 | 98.1 | 91.9 | 88.6 | 101.3 | 100.7 | 114.4 | 117.2 | 120.6 | 117.3 |
| All causes | 496.0 | 508.8 | 541.1 | 550.2 | 567.8 | 545.6 | 577.8 | 596.9 | 588.7 | 607.9 | 596.6 | 610.8 | 604.5 | 632.3 | 641.3 | 636.0 | 620.6 | 637.1 | 648.7 | 677.1 | 695.2 | 838.0 | 753.4 |
As death rates of most diseases are strongly age-dependent, with risk rising with age, direct comparison of crude death rates over time may be very misleading if the underlying age composition of the population being compared has also changed. Hence, age-standardised death rates of leading causes of death, which remove the impact of the change in age composition, are also presented in the linked table for intertemporal comparison.
Age-standardised death rates by leading causes of death (based on ICD 10th Revision) : 2001 - 2023
Notes:
The figures are based on deaths registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174, Laws of Hong Kong) during the specified period.
The disease codes according to the classification are shown in brackets.
Figures may not add up to total due to rounding.
† According to the ICD 10th Revision, when the morbid condition is classifiable under Chapter XIX as "injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes", the codes under Chapter XX for "external causes of morbidity and mortality" should be used as the primary cause of death.
* In Hong Kong, deaths due to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was coded under the ICD-10 disease code J98.8, which includes certain specific respiratory disorders other than COVID-19. In the table, only registered deaths where COVID-19 was identified as the cause of death were included in the statistics corresponding to COVID-19.