NORTH KOREA VS CHINA: TOP 10 CAUSES OF DEATH

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	CHINA		NORTH KOREA		Deaths
Cause Of Death	Rnk	Deaths	Rnk	Deaths	Summary
Stroke	1	37,946	1	49,648	- 11,701
Coronary Heart Disease	2	32,901	2	31,342	+ 1,559
Lung Disease	3	17,989	3	26,178	- 8,189
Lung Cancers	4	13,266	5	11,893	+ 1,373
Stomach Cancer	5	7,400	13	3,771	+ 3,629
Alzheimers & Dementia	6	5,654	11	4,340	+ 1,315
Hypertension	7	5,594	8	5,368	+ 226
Road Traffic Accidents	8	4,648	7	6,210	- 1,562
Colon-Rectum Cancers	9	4,613	15	3,232	+ 1,381
Oesophagus Cancer	10	4,511	24	1,222	+ 3,289
Kidney Disease	11	3,571	12	3,959	- 387
Influenza and Pneumonia	12	3,405	6	6,231	- 2,826
Liver Cancer	13	3,361	9	5,326	- 1,965
Diabetes Mellitus	14	3,003	14	3,671	- 668
Liver Disease	15	2,704	10	4,506	- 1,802
Falls	16	2,579	18	1,801	+ 778
Suicide	17	2,160	16	2,407	- 247
Pancreas Cancer	18	2,071	21	1,525	+ 546
Breast Cancer	19	1,723	23	1,366	+ 357
Parkinson's Disease	20	1,313	26	1,155	+ 158
Rheumatic Heart Disease	21	1,214	17	2,093	- 879
Leukemia	22	1,080	30	965	+ 115
Lymphomas	23	1,074	35	560	+ 514
Oral Cancer	24	1,016	37	513	+ 503
Other Injuries	25	1,005	20	1,531	- 527
Drownings	26	981	27	1,126	- 145
Cervical Cancer	27	959	33	704	+ 255
Prostate Cancer	28	948	48	219	+ 729
Bladder Cancer	29	703	38	500	+ 204
Peptic Ulcer Disease	30	701	19	1,712	- 1,012
Congenital Anomalies	31	680	29	991	- 311
Tuberculosis	32	646	4	17,417	- 16,771
Inflammatory/Heart	33	556	34	684	- 128
HIV/AIDS	34	534	31	753	- 219
Ovary Cancer	35	521	36	532	- 10
Poisonings	36	478	41	366	+ 112
Endocrine Disorders	37	476	39	452	+ 24
Drug Use	38	450	42	356	+ 93
Asthma	39	430	22	1,439	- 1,009
Low Birth Weight	40	402	25	1,208	- 806
Skin Cancers	41	365	51	168	+ 197
Alcohol	42	354	44	304	+ 50
Birth Trauma	43	328	32	736	- 408
Malnutrition	44	241	43	317	- 76
Uterin Cancer	45	218	53	138	+ 80
Epilepsy	46	211	45	266	- 55
Violence	47	206	28	1,082	- 876
Fires	48	195	46	253	- 58
Rheumatoid Arthritis	49	188	50	198	- 11
Diarrhoeal diseases	50	162	40	374	- 213
Meningitis	51	106	49	207	- 101
Skin Disease	52	97	52	158	- 61
Other Neoplasms	53	81	59	44	+ 38
Maternal Conditions	54	67	47	252	- 185
Encephalitis	55	52	54	117	- 65
Hepatitis B	56	51	55	68	- 17
Upper Respiratory	57	49	56	67	- 17
Syphilis	58	34	58	54	- 20
Multiple Sclerosis	59	32	60	40	- 7
Appendicitis	60	27	57	57	- 29
War	61	17	63	16	+ 0
Measles	62	10	65	4	+ 7
Tetanus	63	9	62	28	- 18
Pertussis	64	9	61	34	- 25
Schistosomiasis	65	7	74	0	+ 7
Hepatitis C	66	2	64	10	- 9
Chlamydia	67	1	66	1	- 0
Ascariasis	68	1	67	1	- 0
Otitis Media	69	0	70	0	- 0
Dengue	70	0	76	0	+ 0
Diphtheria	71	0	68	0	- 0
Leprosy	72	0	71	0	- 0
Trichuriasis	73	0	77	0	- 0
Hookworm Disease	74	0	78	0	- 0
Malaria	75	0	69	0	- 0
Chagas disease	76	0	72	0	- 0
Trypanosomiasis	77	0	73	0	- 0
Leishmaniasis	78	0	75	0	- 0
Iodine Deficiency	79	0	79	0	- 0
Oral conditions	80	0	82	0	- 0
Prostatic Hypertrophy	81	0	80	0	- 0
Osteoarthritis	82	0	81	0	- 0
Anemia	83	0	85	0	- 0
Vitamin A Deficiency	84	0	86	0	- 0
Depression	85	0	84	0	- 0
Schizophrenia	86	0	83	0	- 0
TOTAL DEATHS

Note: Population is Equalized to NORTH KOREA

China

North Korea

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.