WORLDLIFEEXPECTANCY
live longer live better
Learn Think Feel Do
WorldLifeExpectancy

CHINA VS USA: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

Click Country Link To Compare
United States UNITED STATES CHINA Deaths
Cause Of Death Rnk Deaths Rnk Deaths Summary
Coronary Heart Disease 1 2,106,888 2 1,771,525 + 335,363
Alzheimers & Dementia 2 1,198,436 6 304,455 + 893,981
Lung Disease 3 815,321 3 968,607 - 153,286
Stroke 4 661,480 1 2,043,210 - 1,381,731
Lung Cancers 5 649,014 4 714,311 - 65,297
Kidney Disease 6 358,284 11 192,302 + 165,982
Drug Use 7 310,604 38 24,214 + 286,391
Hypertension 8 275,243 7 301,183 - 25,939
Colon-Rectum Cancers 9 257,995 9 248,388 + 9,607
Diabetes Mellitus 10 256,289 14 161,672 + 94,617
Influenza and Pneumonia 11 251,695 12 183,342 + 68,353
Suicide 12 221,573 17 116,324 + 105,249
Breast Cancer 13 203,096 19 92,757 + 110,339
Endocrine Disorders 14 196,061 37 25,613 + 170,449
Pancreas Cancer 15 184,826 18 111,537 + 73,290
Liver Disease 16 181,112 15 145,603 + 35,509
Road Traffic Accidents 17 173,984 8 250,272 - 76,288
Falls 18 168,658 16 138,878 + 29,781
Lymphomas 19 168,086 23 57,838 + 110,248
Prostate Cancer 20 148,605 28 51,056 + 97,549
Parkinson's Disease 21 143,926 20 70,699 + 73,227
Inflammatory/Heart 22 135,739 33 29,954 + 105,785
Liver Cancer 23 112,936 13 180,952 - 68,016
Leukemia 24 112,523 22 58,145 + 54,379
Other Injuries 25 108,483 25 54,087 + 54,396
Bladder Cancer 26 81,880 29 37,873 + 44,007
Violence 27 79,184 47 11,115 + 68,069
Oesophagus Cancer 28 74,399 10 242,891 - 168,492
Other Neoplasms 29 74,039 53 4,374 + 69,665
Alcohol 30 61,172 42 19,071 + 42,100
Ovary Cancer 31 60,888 35 28,078 + 32,810
Skin Cancers 32 59,717 41 19,669 + 40,048
Stomach Cancer 33 54,567 5 398,439 - 343,872
Congenital Anomalies 34 49,079 31 36,613 + 12,467
Oral Cancer 35 48,217 24 54,695 - 6,478
Uterin Cancer 36 41,991 45 11,751 + 30,240
Diarrhoeal diseases 37 41,539 50 8,719 + 32,820
Cervical Cancer 38 29,144 27 51,650 - 22,505
Low Birth Weight 39 28,893 40 21,631 + 7,261
Malnutrition 40 28,217 44 12,995 + 15,223
Hepatitis C 41 23,718 66 86 + 23,632
HIV/AIDS 42 23,620 34 28,746 - 5,125
Skin Disease 43 22,571 52 5,222 + 17,349
Multiple Sclerosis 44 21,111 59 1,734 + 19,376
Drownings 45 16,983 26 52,807 - 35,824
Asthma 46 15,932 39 23,147 - 7,215
Rheumatic Heart Disease 47 15,214 21 65,350 - 50,136
Peptic Ulcer Disease 48 14,443 30 37,723 - 23,280
Fires 49 13,282 48 10,498 + 2,784
Epilepsy 50 13,196 46 11,365 + 1,831
Anemia 51 12,998 83 0 + 12,998
Rheumatoid Arthritis 52 10,268 49 10,108 + 160
Poisonings 53 6,986 36 25,762 - 18,776
Birth Trauma 54 5,146 43 17,644 - 12,499
War 55 4,998 61 900 + 4,098
Maternal Conditions 56 3,249 54 3,596 - 347
Schizophrenia 57 3,016 86 0 + 3,016
Prostatic Hypertrophy 58 2,829 81 0 + 2,829
Hepatitis B 59 2,536 56 2,757 - 221
Meningitis 60 2,528 51 5,704 - 3,176
Osteoarthritis 61 2,415 82 0 + 2,415
Tuberculosis 62 2,280 32 34,802 - 32,522
Appendicitis 63 1,771 60 1,468 + 304
Oral conditions 64 1,192 80 0 + 1,192
Upper Respiratory 65 957 57 2,663 - 1,706
Syphilis 66 206 58 1,824 - 1,618
Otitis Media 67 142 69 15 + 127
Encephalitis 68 106 55 2,796 - 2,691
Pertussis 69 66 64 484 - 418
Chagas disease 70 18 76 0 + 18
Tetanus 71 9 63 491 - 483
Schistosomiasis 72 5 65 400 - 395
Iodine Deficiency 73 5 79 0 + 5
Leprosy 74 1 72 0 + 1
Diphtheria 75 1 71 11 - 10
Dengue 76 1 70 12 - 11
Malaria 77 1 75 0 + 1
Trypanosomiasis 78 0 77 0 - 0
Leishmaniasis 79 0 78 0 - 0
Measles 80 0 62 558 - 558
Hookworm Disease 81 0 74 0 - 0
Ascariasis 82 0 68 34 - 34
Trichuriasis 83 0 73 0 - 0
Chlamydia 84 0 67 55 - 55
Vitamin A Deficiency 85 0 84 0 - 0
Depression 86 0 85 0 - 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to CHINA

United States

United States

China

China

THE INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE

The point of this intellectual exercise is to measure what would happen if two countries shared the same leading causes of death. To make these comparisons possible we equalized the population and used total deaths for each country's top 10 causes to simulate an "Exchange." Use the chart on the left to sort by the country name and use the summary plus and minus column to measure the differences in total deaths.

Life Expectancy statistics are calculated the same way everywhere in the world, but what we die from can be very different depending upon where we live. Despite these differences, with rare exception, the top 10 causes of death for any given country will represent between 70-80% of their total deaths. This is an intellectual exercise only, not a comparison of which country is healthier or to challenge existing life expectancy rankings. If you prefer to see total deaths for over 80 causes and choose your own countries to compare go here: https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-rankings-total-deaths

ABOUT OUR DATA

All meaningful comparisons between countries should be made using the same data source and year. The most reliable source for International comparisons is the World Health Organization because it is standardized for cross cultural comparisons. It is also reviewed annually, which often makes it more current than individual country data that can take years to compile. The WHO data includes individual country "projections," that are calculated based upon an annual consultation with each country before it is published. There are differences however, such as WHO data separates different forms of heart disease and cancer and combines Alzheimer's with Dementia. In this top 10 comparison WHO data for both countries was used.

Data rounded. Decimals affect ranking.
Data Source: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 2020